The aim of this project is to investigate natural products from polar macroalgae. As arctic waters represent an extreme habitat, formation of secondary metabolites is limited - besides other factors - by light conditions. Therefore, the influence of light, particularly different photon fluence rates and UV radiation, on secondary metabolism and on regulation of associated genes will be studied.
- Collections of macroalgae to investigate the influence of the season (July 2003 compared to August 2002) - Cultivation of selected algae in the laboratory under extreme photon fluence rates and under UV-radiation - Cultivation of selected algae in different depths in the Kongsfjorden - Extraction of the algal samples, isolation of RNA and secondary metabolites for further investigation in the AWI laboratories at Bremerhaven