Mar. Drugs 2014, 12, 899-925; doi:10.3390/md12020899 OPEN ACCESS marine drugs ISSN 1660-3397 www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs Article Bioprospecting from Marine Sediments of New Brunswick, Canada: Exploring the Relationship between Total Bacterial Diversity and Actinobacteria Diversity Katherine Duncan 1, Bradley Haltli 2, Krista A. Gill 2 and Russell G. Kerr 1,2,* 1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada; E-Mail:
[email protected] 2 Department of Chemistry, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada; E-Mails:
[email protected] (B.H.);
[email protected] (K.A.G.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-902-566-0565; Fax: +1-902-566-7445. Received: 13 November 2013; in revised form: 7 January 2014 / Accepted: 21 January 2014 / Published: 13 February 2014 Abstract: Actinomycetes are an important resource for the discovery of natural products with therapeutic properties. Bioprospecting for actinomycetes typically proceeds without a priori knowledge of the bacterial diversity present in sampled habitats. In this study, we endeavored to determine if overall bacterial diversity in marine sediments, as determined by 16S rDNA amplicon pyrosequencing, could be correlated with culturable actinomycete diversity, and thus serve as a powerful tool in guiding future bioprospecting efforts. Overall bacterial diversity was investigated in eight marine sediments from four sites in New Brunswick, Canada, resulting in over 44,000 high quality sequences (x̄ = 5610 per sample). Analysis revealed all sites exhibited significant diversity (H’ = 5.4 to 6.7).