Exploring the Microbial Diversity of Frobisher Bay in Canada's Arctic as a Source of Bioactive Natural Products

Canada's Arctic is an extremely harsh and relatively inaccessible environment and remains largely undiscovered in terms of microbial diversity. Being so, the Arctic provides a unique niche where microorganisms have evolved to withstand extreme cold, limited environmental resources and a variety of other chemical and biological factors. It is hypothesized, the Arctic hosts novel microorganisms that are highly adapted to thrive in this environment and these organisms will produce unique secondary metabolites. Culture dependent and culture independent techniques have been used to determine the fungal and bacterial diversity present within Frobisher Bay in Nunavut, Canada. Cultivatable actinobacteria and fungi from Frobisher Bay have been used to construct a library for the purposes of natural product discovery. Results of the culture dependent analysis will be discussed.