In cooperation with the Rhododendron Park Bremen, the Jacobs University laboratories of Prof. Brix, Prof. Kuhnert, Prof. Albach (University of Oldenburg), and Prof. Ullrich conduct a joint MOLIFE Center research project to identify and characterize medically interesting substances from a large variety of Rhododendron species. The principal idea of this large-scale project is to combine the high-tech phytochemical analysis with a thoroughly conducted phylogenetic comparison and bioactivity assays to identify potential antibiotics or cell type-specific cytostatica.
The project takes advantage of the rich genetic pool of the Botanical Garden and approaches the identification of bio-active Rhododendron secondary metabolites from different perspectives, i.e. genetics, cell biology, natural chemistry, and molecular microbiology.
