DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's Description) The long term objectives of the Latin American ICBG are to discover and develop biologically active agents from natural sources to promote sustained economic growth while conserving natural resources from which these products are derived. This program seeks to identify new therapeutic agents that are candidates or can serve as leads in the treatment of infectious diseases, cardiovascular and central nervous system disorders, cancer and inflammation, women's health as well as illnesses prevalent in developing countries. This ICBG project also searches for leads for agricultural crop protection (herbicides, fungicides and insecticides) and veterinary medicine. Studies will include plants and microbes mainly from dryland ecosystems in Argentina, Chile and Mexico. The specific aims are to: 1) identify plants and their populations that are utilized in local health practices or show some mechanism of resistance to natural predators; 2) isolate and identify unusual populations of microbes from selected plant communities; 3) evaluate the biological activities of these plants and microbes; 4) isolate and chemically identify the active compounds in these natural resources and promote their use for human, animal or agricultural benefit; 5) return benefits (derived from these resources) to the local communities in order to promote conservation of the plants and their habitat as well as improve the life of the communities; 6) develop a plant catalog database and its representative Web site; 7) publish a newsletter in print and online; 8) foster academic advancement and capacity building in each host country; 9) work on ecological restoration projects and establishment of regional botanical gardens as part of conservation activities; 10) aid host governments towards legislation for conservation and facilitation of access to biological resources, and 11) organize periodical workshops for the general public, teachers and the academic community. The successful discovery of rare, novel therapeutic agents and agrochemicals depends upon the rapid evaluation of large numbers of chemically diverse compounds in targeted, high volume detection systems. This ICBG has the capabilities to reach the proposed objectives through the application of the latest developments in spectroscopic and spectrometric methods as well as in robotic, micro-instrumentation and computerization.