Project description:The formation of neuronal connections requires the precise guidance of developing axons towards their targets. In the Drosophila visual system, photoreceptor neurons (R cells) project from the eye into the brain. These cells are grouped into some 750 clusters comprised of eight photoreceptors or R-cells each. R cells fall into three classes, R1-R6, R7 and R8. Posterior R8 cells are the first to project axons into the brain. How these axons select a specific pathway is not known. Here, we used a microarray-based approach to identify genes expressed in R7 and R8 neurons as they extend into the brain.
Project description:Here we describe the rapid identification and prioritization of novel active marine natural products using an improved dereplication strategy. During the course of our screening of marine natural product libraries, a new cyclic trihydroxamate compound, thalassosamide, was discovered from the α-proteobacterium Thalassospira profundimaris. Its structure was determined by 2D NMR and MS/MS experiments, and the absolute configuration of the lysine-derived units was established by Marfey's analysis, whereas that of C-9, 9', and 9″ was determined via the circular dichroism data of the [Rh2(OCOCF3)4] complex and DFT NMR calculations. Thalassosamide showed moderate in vivo efficacy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.