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Background
This Center was funded by the Research Grants Council
to study and explore the economic potential of the vast
and largely untapped natural products derived from marine
bacteria and other microorganisms. The work is being carried
out by a team of investigators from the Hong Kong University
of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Chinese University
and Hong Kong University, who have excelled in marine
biology, microbiology, natural product chemistry, molecular
biology, toxicology and biotechnology. We endeavor with
one accord to develop a state-of-the-art research center
for bioactive natural products from the ocean.
Missions
- To
establish a state-of-the-art new database and
culture collection of marine bacteria
- To
produce and purify known and novel bioactive
substances
- To
scale up bioproduction processes for potential
commercialization
- To
support marine biotechnology industry in Hong
Kong and the region
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Ongoing
research activities
The Center has developed a culture collection of >1000
strains (>300 species) of marine bacteria and a state-of-the-art
database. Using these bacteria as resource pool, we have
screened bioactive substances for antifouling, anticorrosion,
organic pollutant degradation, and biotoxins.
Equipment
at the Center
This Center is housed in the Coastal Marine Laboratory
of HKUST, which is fitted with molecular biology equipment, analytic equipment including
HPLCs, LC-MS, GC-MS, and environmental research facilities
including environmental chambers, flow-through seawater
system, scintillation and gamma counters, nutrient analyzers,
CHN analyzers, TOC analyzers and so on.
Services
provided by the Center
- Identification
of marine bacteria in environmental samples
- Rapid
diagnosis of marine bacteria infection
- Production,
purification, analyses and toxicity assays of
paralytic shellfish toxins
- Sequencing
of DNAs from marine microorganisms
- Ecotoxicity
bioassays
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Key
members of the Center
Prof Pei-Yuan Qian (Director of the Center, HKUST)
Prof Ji-Dong Gu (HKU)
Prof Wen-Xiong Wang (HKUST)
Prof Po-Keung Wong (CUHK)
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