This collection has been amassed in association with PeruBotanica and the Universidad Nacional de la Amazonas Peruana (UNAP), in Iquitos, Peru as part of a program of taxonomic and phytochemical profiling of the CONAPAC reserve in the Napo region of the Amazon Basin. This 250,000 acre reserve has been assessed independently as having the greatest biological diversity in the Amazon.



We currently have 30,000 ethanol extracts of various anatomical parts of ~12,000 plant specimens in the herbaria of PeruBotanica and UNAP. All have been profiled by thin layer chromatography and each profile recorded in the relational database, NATMAP ™. We also have prepared fractions of the lipid components of these extracts and preparations wherein strong protein binders (e.g. polyphenols and tannins) have been removed.

This remarkable resource of phytochemical diversity has been compiled over the past six years and is continually supplemented from the ongoing collection and the documentation processes. We offer samples of these extracts and partitions in microplate format (~90,000 preparations) as a discovery program. Our associate botanists and chemists in Peru are available on call for any recollection, extract preparation, and partitioning required. Our collaboration with UNAP, permits access to their agronomic expertise and assistance in local economic development.

Details of this program are described in the publication, "Microcollection of Plants for Biochemical Development: A Model of International Cooperation," which is found on the downloading page as the file Microbot.pdf. Various means of sampling this remarkable discovery resource are possible. Additional information in relation to the terms of access and follow-up procedures are available on request from MicroSource Discovery Systems, Inc.

MicroBotanica in collaboration with PeruBotanica srl (Iquitos, Peru) is constructing a research and development institute within the primary collection region, that will be dedicated to the memory of Professor W. David Ollis FRS in recognition of his immense contribution to the chemistry of natural products. The W. David Ollis Institute is adjacent to the Cieba Tops Lodge & Resort in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The facilities at the institute will permit the continued development of native Amazonian plants, and the expansion of these researches into the identification and isolation of natural products from tropical micro-organisms.

          
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