Bioprospecting and conservation of the rich microbial resources in the rainforests of Sabah, Borneo for pharmaceutical industries

Lo, Chor Wai and Ho, Coy Choke. (2001) Bioprospecting and conservation of the rich microbial resources in the rainforests of Sabah, Borneo for pharmaceutical industries. [Proceedings Paper]

Malaysia especially Sabah, Borneo is well-known as one of the world's hot spots of biodiversity. Borneo contained the dipterocarp dominated biodiversity-rich rainforests with many toxic resins (damar) bearing Dipterocarpaceae (273 species) comprising 155 endemic and 112 non-endemic species (Ashton, 1982). A number of pharmaceutical products (quinine, vincristine, taxol) are derived from plants. However there are many special medicinal gifts from microbes especially from the members of actinomycetes and fungi. These microbes produce many important secondary metabolites acting as antibiotics and other drugs. These include the anti- filarial avermectin from Streptomyces avermitilis. The search for these novel pharmaceutical products require a very large collection of new actinomycetes isolated from new micro niches previously not sampled such as the tropical rain forests. In our study, we have isolated a total of 104 strains of actinomycetes, probably mostly Streptomyces, from different sites. 30 strains have been aerobically grown in shaking liquid cultures. Acetone extracts of these cultures were screened for MAPK Kinase and MAP Kinase Phosphatase inhibitors in yeasts system for new cancer drugs. However, such inhibitors were not found and only one extract (L-6) showed toxic effect on yeasts. All the cultures were preserved in 20% glycerol for future use. This new approach of using the rich plant biodiversity in Sabah to isolate new strains of actinomycetes may result in discovery of new taxa and infra-species variants (strains) producing new bioactive compounds. While isolated strains with important compounds maybe kept alive in microbial culture collections for future use, yet there are many difficulties of long term storage. This limited ex-situ conservation of microbial resources must be fully complemented by in-situ conservation of diverse microbes in their natural habitats to permit continued evolution and generation of new strains. The importance of conservation of the rich lowland dipterocarp forests for plants, animals and microbes is compounded by the fact that less than one percent of the soil microbes can be cultured. Sabah today has limited scattered areas of virgin forests and it is important that they will be preserved intact in view of pressures from clearing, logging and forest fire. These reserves besides its current utilization for ecotourism will provide a continued source of new microbes through evolution for the screening of new drugs for sustained pharmaceutical industries.

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Abstract

Malaysia especially Sabah, Borneo is well-known as one of the world's hot spots of biodiversity. Borneo contained the dipterocarp dominated biodiversity-rich rainforests with many toxic resins (damar) bearing Dipterocarpaceae (273 species) comprising 155 endemic and 112 non-endemic species (Ashton, 1982). A number of pharmaceutical products (quinine, vincristine, taxol) are derived from plants. However there are many special medicinal gifts from microbes especially from the members of actinomycetes and fungi. These microbes produce many important secondary metabolites acting as antibiotics and other drugs. These include the anti- filarial avermectin from Streptomyces avermitilis. The search for these novel pharmaceutical products require a very large collection of new actinomycetes isolated from new micro niches previously not sampled such as the tropical rain forests. In our study, we have isolated a total of 104 strains of actinomycetes, probably mostly Streptomyces, from different sites. 30 strains have been aerobically grown in shaking liquid cultures. Acetone extracts of these cultures were screened for MAPK Kinase and MAP Kinase Phosphatase inhibitors in yeasts system for new cancer drugs. However, such inhibitors were not found and only one extract (L-6) showed toxic effect on yeasts. All the cultures were preserved in 20% glycerol for future use. This new approach of using the rich plant biodiversity in Sabah to isolate new strains of actinomycetes may result in discovery of new taxa and infra-species variants (strains) producing new bioactive compounds. While isolated strains with important compounds maybe kept alive in microbial culture collections for future use, yet there are many difficulties of long term storage. This limited ex-situ conservation of microbial resources must be fully complemented by in-situ conservation of diverse microbes in their natural habitats to permit continued evolution and generation of new strains. The importance of conservation of the rich lowland dipterocarp forests for plants, animals and microbes is compounded by the fact that less than one percent of the soil microbes can be cultured. Sabah today has limited scattered areas of virgin forests and it is important that they will be preserved intact in view of pressures from clearing, logging and forest fire. These reserves besides its current utilization for ecotourism will provide a continued source of new microbes through evolution for the screening of new drugs for sustained pharmaceutical industries.

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Item Type:	Proceedings Paper
Additional Information:	Available at Perpustakaan Sultan Abdul Samad, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43000 UPM Serdang, Malaysia.Call Number QH75 A1I61 2000
AGROVOC Term:	Dipterocarpus
AGROVOC Term:	Dipterocarpaceae
AGROVOC Term:	medicinal plants
AGROVOC Term:	microbial flora
AGROVOC Term:	rainforests
AGROVOC Term:	ex situ conservation
AGROVOC Term:	in situ conservation
AGROVOC Term:	soil sampling
AGROVOC Term:	Actinomycetales
AGROVOC Term:	pharmaceutical industry
Geographical Term:	Malaysia
Depositing User:	Ms. Azariah Hashim
Date Deposited:	03 Sep 2024 08:19
Last Modified:	03 Sep 2024 08:20
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/1140

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