Research in Natural Products

Our ongoing research of basic questions in functional microbial diversity and secondary metabolism is directed at improving the diversity of our microbial and natural products collections while advancing the understanding of how and why microorganisms produce their natural products. Significant research is centered in the following areas:

• Detection and molecular assessment of microbial diversity
• Characterization and identification of microorganisms, especially those that produces secondary metabolites
• Evolutionary histories of microorganisms and their relationship to secondary metabolism
• Development of cultivation methods fermentation media and scale up conditions for secondary metabolite expression
• Molecular basis of microbial antagonism and secondary metabolite expression
• Detection and molecular assessment of secondary metabolite pathways in individual organisms and in the metagenome

Our research in Natural Products Chemistry is focused on the development of new strategies for the isolation of novel bioactive natural products from microorganisms and other sources.  Some of the research areas covered by our group are the following:

• Exploration of new methodologies for the preparation of extract and fraction collections.
• Design of new semi-automated strategies for the bioassay-guided purification of natural products from microbial extracts.
• Implementation of new dereplication tools based on LC-HRMS, LC-SPE-NMR, and DOSY NMR.
• Development of new strategies for the isolation and structural characterization of new natural products at thenanomole scale.
• Re-exploration of the Andalusian flora applying these new approaches aimed at the discovery of novel bioactive molecules.