In the Indian River Lagoon, the nudibranch Okenia zoobotryon and its egg masses are found attached to the bryozoan Zoobotryon verticillatum throughout the year. Okenia zoobotryon is thought to live, feed, and reproduce exclusively on Z. verticillatum, which would make this a very specialized predator-prey interaction. The primary goal of my study was to document certain aspects of the ecological and chemical relationships between Z. verticillatum and O. zoobotryon. Specifically, I wanted to understand the cues used by the nudibranch to locate and remain on Z. verticillatum. Population surveys on Z. verticillatum, as well as other potential hosts, were performed. From these surveys, I found a small number of O. zoobotryon adults and egg masses on the red macroalga S. filamentosa mixed with Z. verticillatum (0.01 and 0.05 g/wet-weight, respectively), none on the bryozoan Amathia distans, and none on the red macroalga Gracilaria tikvahiae. To determine if prey identification was associated with an adult cue, I ran paired-choice trials. In these, the adults did not significantly prefer Z. verticillatum. Next, laboratory culture of larvae of O. zoobotryon was performed. During larval culture some aspects of this previously undocumented life-history were recorded; adults of this species developed from planktotrophic veliger larvae that hatched out of egg masses between 4 and 6 days, the time post-hatching to settlement was 7-8 days, and metamorphosis occurred approximately 24 hours after settlement. The final question addressed in this study was; "Does O. zoobotryon feed on and take up chemicals from Z. verticillatum?" To address this question, high-performance liquid chromatography was performed on extracts of Z. verticillatum and O. zoobotryon. Both organisms were compared and found to contain similar compounds, which suggest that the nudibranch is feeding on Z. verticillatum and taking up chemicals. Concentrations of compounds in Z. verticillatum varied between populations in the northern and southern regions of the Indian River Lagoon. There are, also, differences between the chemical composition of Z. verticillatum in the IRL (northern and southern) and the California species identified by Sato and Fenical (1983).

O presente projeto de pesquisa teve por objetivo a descoberta de metabólitos secundários potencialmente bioativos contra atividade parasitária e como agentes anti-virais e antibióticos, usando desreplicação como metodologia essencial na seleção e priorização de extratos brutos oriundos de invertebrados, para a descoberta de produtos naturais estruturalmente inéditos.<br /><br />Foram preparados diversos extratos de invertebrados marinhos a partir de um fracionamento inicial. O desenvolvimento e a aplicação de uma metodologia de desreplicação permitiu a seleção de três organismos de estudo, Iotrochota birotulata, Amathia verticillata, e Tedania brasiliensis. Os extratos destes organismos foram submetidos a diferentes metodologias de fracionamento, isolamento e purificação de substâncias, dependendo dos resultados de desreplicação para cada organismo.<br /><br />Como resultado do isolamento e identificação de substancias destes organismos, obteve-se dois compostos já conhecidos na literatura e dezesseis compostos inéditos, dos quais dois são derivados sintéticos. De todos os compostos isolados, a pseudoceratidina, as desbromopseudoceratidinas e as tedamidas A e B apresentaram um índice de seletividade de 243.1, 217.1 e 89.3 respectivamente para Leishmania (L.) infantum, e o composto N12-acetilpseudoceratidina de 23.2 para Trypanosoma cruzi, sendo estes resultados muito promissores para a utilização das estruturas destas moléculas como potenciais modelos para o desenvolvimento de fármacos. / This research project aimed at the discovery of potentially bioactive secondary metabolites against parasitic activity and as antiviral agents and antibiotics, using dereplication as an essential methodology in the selection and prioritization of crude extracts derived from invertebrates, to the discovery of natural products structurally unpublished.<br /><br />Various extracts of marine invertebrates from an initial fractionation were prepared. The development and application of a dereplication methodology allowed the selection of three study organisms, Iotrochota birotulata, Amathia verticillata, and Tedania brasiliensis. The extracts of these organisms were subjected to different methods of fractionation, isolation and purification of substances, depending on the results of dereplication for each organism.<br /><br /> As a result of the isolation and identification of substances of these organisms, it obtained two compounds already known in the literature and unpublished sixteen compounds, two of which are synthetic derivatives. In all isolated compounds, pseudoceratidina, the desbromopseudoceratidinas and tedamidas A and B showed an index of selectivity 243.1, 217.1 and 89.3 respectively for Leishmania (L.) infantum, and the compound N12-acetilpseudoceratidina 23.2 for Trypanosoma cruzi, which are very promising results for the use of these molecules as structures potential models for drug development.

O presente projeto de pesquisa teve por objetivo a descoberta de metabólitos secundários potencialmente bioativos contra atividade parasitária e como agentes anti-virais e antibióticos, usando desreplicação como metodologia essencial na seleção e priorização de extratos brutos oriundos de invertebrados, para a descoberta de produtos naturais estruturalmente inéditos.<br /><br />Foram preparados diversos extratos de invertebrados marinhos a partir de um fracionamento inicial. O desenvolvimento e a aplicação de uma metodologia de desreplicação permitiu a seleção de três organismos de estudo, Iotrochota birotulata, Amathia verticillata, e Tedania brasiliensis. Os extratos destes organismos foram submetidos a diferentes metodologias de fracionamento, isolamento e purificação de substâncias, dependendo dos resultados de desreplicação para cada organismo.<br /><br />Como resultado do isolamento e identificação de substancias destes organismos, obteve-se dois compostos já conhecidos na literatura e dezesseis compostos inéditos, dos quais dois são derivados sintéticos. De todos os compostos isolados, a pseudoceratidina, as desbromopseudoceratidinas e as tedamidas A e B apresentaram um índice de seletividade de 243.1, 217.1 e 89.3 respectivamente para Leishmania (L.) infantum, e o composto N12-acetilpseudoceratidina de 23.2 para Trypanosoma cruzi, sendo estes resultados muito promissores para a utilização das estruturas destas moléculas como potenciais modelos para o desenvolvimento de fármacos. / This research project aimed at the discovery of potentially bioactive secondary metabolites against parasitic activity and as antiviral agents and antibiotics, using dereplication as an essential methodology in the selection and prioritization of crude extracts derived from invertebrates, to the discovery of natural products structurally unpublished.<br /><br />Various extracts of marine invertebrates from an initial fractionation were prepared. The development and application of a dereplication methodology allowed the selection of three study organisms, Iotrochota birotulata, Amathia verticillata, and Tedania brasiliensis. The extracts of these organisms were subjected to different methods of fractionation, isolation and purification of substances, depending on the results of dereplication for each organism.<br /><br /> As a result of the isolation and identification of substances of these organisms, it obtained two compounds already known in the literature and unpublished sixteen compounds, two of which are synthetic derivatives. In all isolated compounds, pseudoceratidina, the desbromopseudoceratidinas and tedamidas A and B showed an index of selectivity 243.1, 217.1 and 89.3 respectively for Leishmania (L.) infantum, and the compound N12-acetilpseudoceratidina 23.2 for Trypanosoma cruzi, which are very promising results for the use of these molecules as structures potential models for drug development.