Bioactive Cyclic Dipeptides from a Marine Sponge-Associated Bacterium, Psychrobacter sp.

Abstract

A bacterial strain with good antibacterial activities against Staphylococus aureus and Escherichia coli was isolated from a marine sponge Stelleta sp., and it was identified as a Psychrobacter sp. by comparative 16S rDNA sequence analysis. In our search for bioactive secondary metabolites from this psychrophillic and halotolerent bacterium, sixteen cyclic dipeptides (1-16) were isolated and their structures were identified on the basis of NMR analysis. In the test of the compounds for the protective effect against Vibrio vulnificusinduced cytotoxicity in human intestinal epithelial cells, cyclo-(L-Pro-L-Phe) (5) exhibited significant protective effect. Compounds 2, 6, and 11, which contain D-amino acid, were first isolated from bacteria.