The genus Pseudoalteromonas is a marine group of bacteria belonging to the class Gammaproteobacteria that has come to attention in the natural product and microbial ecology science fields in the last decade. Pigmented species of the genus have been shown to produce an array of low and high molecular weight compounds with antimicrobial, anti-fouling, algicidal and various pharmaceutically-relevant activities. Compounds formed include toxic proteins, polyanionic exopolymers, substituted phenolic and pyrolle-containing alkaloids, cyclic peptides and a range of bromine-substituted compounds. Ecologically, Pseudoalteromonas appears significant and to date has been shown to influence biofilm formation in various marine econiches; involved in predator-like interactions within the microbial loop; influence settlement, germination and metamorphosis of various invertebrate and algal species; and may also be adopted by marine flora and fauna as defensive agents. Studies have been so far limited to a relatively small subset of strains compared to the known diversity of the genus suggesting that many more discoveries of novel natural products as well as ecological connections these may have in the marine ecosystem remain to be made. © 2007 by MDPI.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Microbiology
Research Field:	Microbial ecology
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Marine systems and management
Objective Field:	Marine biodiversity
UTAS Author:	Bowman, JP (Associate Professor John Bowman)
ID Code:	49496
Year Published:	2007
Web of Science® Times Cited:	243
Deposited By:	Agricultural Science
Deposited On:	2007-08-01
Last Modified:	2008-05-14
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