Three classes of antibiotic resistant bacterial patho-gens are emerging as major threats to public health:
(i) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA),
(ii) multidrug resistant Gram negative bacteria, includ-ing Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and
(iii) multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.Numerous compounds which could potentially combat these classes of pathogen have been isolated from the marine environment. These include structurally novel compounds such as marinopyrrole A and abyssomicin C with activity against MRSA, the alkaloid cyclostel-lettamine F with activity against P. aeruginosa, and trichoderins, novel aminolipopeptides with anti-myco-bacterial activity. Compared with infections caused by
drug resistant bacteria, infections caused by resistant fungal pathogens occur relatively infrequently. However,Candida species are a common cause of hospital-acquired bloodstream infection and kill 40% of those patients, whereas disseminated Aspergillus infections can kill up to 80% of affected patients. Compounds of marine origin with activity against these fungal patho-gens include the cyclic depsipeptide kahalalide F and the alkaloid araguspongin C.