National Institute Of Oceanography( NIO ) - Habitat ecology and aquaculture of marine organisms for food and medicine and chemical synthesis of novel compounds


	Habitat ecology and aquaculture of marine organisms for food and medicine and chemical synthesis of novel compounds			Project Leader: Ansari, Z.A.
	Objectives: Habitat ecology (population dynamics, distribution, abundance and diversity) of selected species along the Indian coast Identification and selection of marine organisms having potential applications in food and pharmaceutical industries Controlled reproduction, rearing and standardization of hatchery technology of organisms having application in food and pharmaceutical industries Purification, characterization and biological screening of active principals Integration of existing methods of sea food production, organic farming and environmental management Transfer of appropriate technologies for user community/industry Establishment of Centre of Excellence for Endangered marine species. General description: The synthetic chemistry group is involved in synthesis of novel bioactive molecules. This work is being carried out in collaboration with Department of Chemistry, Goa University. NIO is well equipped with most of the modern sophisticated instruments including FTIR, UV-Vis spectophotometers, NMR instrument, LC-MS/MS, polarimeter, etc., to carry out efficiently these studies. Scientific components and achievements: Among the notable achievements during the year 2007-'08 are the successful syntheses of the bioactive molecules, (S) Pyrrolam A, cryptotackeiene (an alkaloid) and (R)-Bgugaine (a pyrrolidine alkaloid). Besides, a novel approach involving a new Domino Wittig Diels Alder reaction step is being explored for the facile syntesis of marine anticancer sesquiterpenoids (avarol, ilimaquinone, etc) with a CSIR Research Grant. Continuing our efforts in harnessing the biomedical potential of green mussel Perna viridis, its role in radioprotection and DNA damage was assessed in collaboration with BARC, Mumbai. The study was published in J Envrml Pathology Toxicology & Oncology. A new 3 year project, funded by DBT for evaluation of life cycle in relation to ecology and biomedical potential of Indian Sea Horses has been initiated during this year. At the same time, studies on different aspects of aquaculture of edible marine animals are being pursued under an Indo-EU joint programme. Facilities available: The aquaculture group is equipped with running seawater facility, aquarium tanks of different dimensions for culturing diverse marine organisms and facilities to study their life cycle.			Team Members: Ingole, B.S. Sreepada, R.A. Jagtap, T.G.

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