Marine Bioprospecting and Natural Product Research : The Investigation of Novel Marine Microorganisms for the Production of Biologically Active Metabolites

In this research, two hundred and seventy six (276) marine isolates from water and sediment samples from the Antarctic Ocean and Marion Island were isolated. Ten visually different isolates were screened for bioactivity against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, fungi and yeast. Three out of the 10 isolates, WL61, WL114 and WL136, appeared to be novel Streptomyces spp. showing activity against different test organisms. The cultivation of these marine isolates in bioreactors was employed and isolates WL61, WL114 and WL136 were immobilised onto ceramic membranes using single fibre bioreactors. These reactors were used to establish the most suitable growth medium for continuous secondary metabolite production. The best growth conditions were applied to multifibre bioreactors for scale up of biologically active metabolites, highlighting the potential of bioreactor technology for use in bioprospecting for isolating and screening novel and known organisms for new and interesting natural products.