{"84531":{"#nid":"84531","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Seaweed Surprise: Marine Plant Uses Chemical Warfare to Fight Microbes","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe finding helps explain why some seaweeds, sponges and corals appear to avoid most infections by fungi and bacteria, according to a study published May 19 in the \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Seaweeds live in constant contact with potentially dangerous microbes, and they have apparently evolved a chemical defense to help resist disease,\u0022 said lead author Julia Kubanek, an assistant professor of biology and chemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. \u0022These plants have a really effective way of defending themselves.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFew studies have addressed disease resistance in seaweeds, and seaweed diseases are little understood, except for species that are commercially important - for example, the seaweed used for sushi. This study\u0027s report of isolating a potent antifungal compound contained in the common seaweed species \u003Cem\u003ELobophora variegata \u003C\/em\u003Ereveals an unusual chemical structure not seen before in plants.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd the study lends insight into the ecological interactions between this seaweed species and other marine organisms, Kubanek said. Also, it presents the possibility of biomedical applications for the newly discovered antifungal compound, she added. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research - funded in part by the National Science Foundation - was conducted in collaboration with colleagues Paul Jensen and William Fenical at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, Calif., Paul Keifer of Varian Inc. in Palo Alto, Calif., and researchers M. Cameron Sullards and Dwight Collins of Georgia Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Scientists have discovered that seaweeds defend themselves from specific pathogens with naturally occurring antibiotics.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2003-05-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:41","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2003-05-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2003-05-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/newsrelease\/seaweed.htm","title":"Effects on microbes"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}