The solution structure of the leader sequence of the patellamide precursor peptide was analysed by using CD and determined with NOE‐restrained molecular dynamics calculations. This leader sequence is highly conserved in the precursor peptides of some other cyanobactins harbouring heterocycles, and is assumed to play a role in targeting the precursor peptide to the post‐translational machinery. The sequence was observed to form an α‐helix spanning residues 13–28 with a hydrophobic surface on one side of the helix. This hydrophobic surface is proposed to be the site of the initial binding with modifying enzymes.

Sequestering sea squirts: Liquid chromatography with parallel inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry/electrospray mass spectrometry was used to discover and identify novel lipophilic metal complexes in the solvent extract of the ascidian Eudistoma gilboviride. Using these tools it is now possible to examine whether such complexes play an integral part in an organism's physiology.

As biomolecules go: By identifying the dimethylarsinothioyl glutathione complex in arsenic-exposed cabbage, it was shown that pentavalent arsenic can bind to biomolecules when it is activated by sulfide (see picture; AsV purple, S yellow, O red, N blue). The result highlights that sulfide reactions may play a role in the reactivity of arsenic intermediates and the metabolic pathway of arsenic in organisms.

Natural products from symbiotic or commensal associations between marine invertebrate and microbial organisms show exceptional promise as pharmaceuticals in many therapeutic areas. An economic and sustainable global market supply due to difficulty of synthesis is cited as the main obstacle for exploitation of these otherwise exciting marine bioactive compounds [1]. Different strategies have been evoked to overcome this impediment as long-term harvesting of wild stocks from the environment is considered unsound, and other modes of production based on biosynthesis, such as aquaculture, have not yet been proven as reliable [2]. One option is to clone the genes encoding the biosynthetic expression of a lead metabolite into a surrogate host suitable for industrial-scale fermentation. To facilitate this goal we are developing a universal system to clone and express genes responsible for biosynthesis of natural products from both eukaryotic and prokaryotic partners of marine symbioses. The ability to harness the complete meta-transcriptome of entire biosynthetic pathways is particularly valuable where the biogenesis of a target natural product occurring within a complex symbiotic association is unclear.