Cytotoxic cembranes in the soft coral Nepthea sp. from the Seribu Islands, Indonesia

This research was undertaken as part of the 'Public Sector Linkages Program for Asia' (July 2006 - June 2007; ROU 37118) to expand the limited knowledge of secondary metabolites in soft corals from Indonesia and to test whether the soft corals examined show potential as sources of biologically active and drug development lead compounds.

Soft coral samples were collected by SCUBA from Southern Indonesia: Seribu Islands, Karimunjawa Islands and West Nusa Tenggara Islands.

Sample preparation and extraction, and chemical isolation and analysis were conducted at AIMS in the Biomolecular Analysis Facility. Structural elucidation and manuscript writing were undertaken at AIMS and the Indonesian Research Center of Marine and Fisheries Product Processing and Biotechnology (IRCMFPPB).