World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
121
Citations
46588
World Ranking
485
National Ranking
210

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
124
Citations
49441
World Ranking
536
National Ranking
338

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2008 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2006 - Ernest Guenther Award, American Chemical Society (ACS)

Overview

William Fenical is affiliated with the University of California, San Diego in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, with notable contributions to pharmacology, molecular biology, biotechnology, organic chemistry, and microbiology. Their scholarly activities concentrate on microbial natural products and biosynthesis, marine sponges and natural products, genomics and phylogenetic studies, antimicrobial peptides and activities, antibiotic resistance in bacteria, bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing, and enzyme production and characterization.

The scientist has authored numerous papers published in several key venues related to their field of study. Frequent publication venues include Marine Drugs, Journal of Natural Products, The Journal of Antibiotics, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory).

  • Marine microbial natural products: the evolution of a new field of science (2020, The Journal of Antibiotics)
  • Mersaquinone, A New Tetracene Derivative from the Marine-Derived Streptomyces sp. EG1 Exhibiting Activity against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (2020, Antibiotics)
  • Genomic and Spectroscopic Signature-Based Discovery of Natural Macrolactams (2023, Journal of the American Chemical Society)
  • Deoxyvasicinone with Anti-Melanogenic Activity from Marine-Derived Streptomyces sp. CNQ-617 (2022, Marine Drugs)
  • Androsamide, a Cyclic Tetrapeptide from a Marine Nocardiopsis sp., Suppresses Motility of Colorectal Cancer Cells (2020, Journal of Natural Products)

Collaboratively, William Fenical has worked with several frequent co-authors, reflecting interdisciplinary efforts within their research scope.

  • Reiko Cullum (14 publications)
  • Sang-Jip Nam (12 publications)
  • Dong-Chan Oh (11 publications)
  • Prima F. Hillman (9 publications)
  • James J. La Clair (8 publications)

William Fenical's research interests manifest across a diversity of subfields and topics related to natural product chemistry and microbiology, with particular emphasis on marine sources and the biochemical mechanisms underlying antimicrobial activity.

Awards recognizing their contributions include being named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2008 and receiving the Ernest Guenther Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2006.

Best Publications

  • Salinosporamide A: a highly cytotoxic proteasome inhibitor from a novel microbial source, a marine bacterium of the new genus salinospora.

    Robert H. Feling;Greg O. Buchanan;Tracy J. Mincer;Christopher A. Kauffman

  • Developing a new resource for drug discovery: marine actinomycete bacteria

    William Fenical;Paul R Jensen

  • Marine Plant-Herbivore Interactions: The Ecology of Chemical Defense

    Mark E. Hay;William Fenical

  • Widespread and persistent populations of a major new marine actinomycete taxon in ocean sediments.

    Tracy J. Mincer;Paul R. Jensen;Christopher A. Kauffman;William Fenical

  • Genome sequencing reveals complex secondary metabolome in the marine actinomycete Salinispora tropica

    Daniel W. Udwary;Lisa Zeigler;Ratnakar Asolkar;Vasanth Singan

  • CHEMICAL STUDIES OF MARINE BACTERIA : DEVELOPING A NEW RESOURCE

    William. Fenical

  • Synergisms in Plant Defenses against Herbivores: Interactions of Chemistry, Calcification, and Plant Quality

    Mark E. Hay;Quaker E. Kappel;William Fenical

  • Symbiotic marine bacteria chemically defend crustacean embryos from a pathogenic fungus.

    M. S. Gil-Turnes;M. E. Hay;W. Fenical

  • Defenses of Caribbean sponges against predatory reef fish. I. Chemical deterrency

    Pawlik;Chanas B;Toonen Rj;Fenical W

  • Pestalone, a new antibiotic produced by a marine fungus in response to bacterial challenge

    Mercedes Cueto;Paul R. Jensen;Chris Kauffman;William Fenical

  • Chemical Defense Against Different Marine Herbivores: Are Amphipods Insect Equivalents?

    Mark E. Hay;J. Emmett Duffy;Catherine A. Pfister;William Fenical

  • Marine actinomycete diversity and natural product discovery

    Paul R. Jensen;Tracy J. Mincer;Philip G. Williams;William Fenical

  • Strategies for the Discovery of Secondary Metabolites from Marine Bacteria: Ecological Perspectives

    Paul R. Jensen;William Fenical

  • Eleutherobin, a New Cytotoxin that Mimics Paclitaxel (Taxol) by Stabilizing Microtubules

    Thomas Lindel;Paul R. Jensen;William Fenical;Byron H. Long

  • Phylogenetic diversity of gram-positive bacteria cultured from marine sediments.

    Erin A. Gontang;William Fenical;Paul R. Jensen

  • Distribution of actinomycetes in near-shore tropical marine sediments.

    P R Jensen;R Dwight;W Fenical

  • A mass spectrometry–guided genome mining approach for natural product peptidogenomics

    Roland D. Kersten;Yu Liang Yang;Yuquan Xu;Peter Cimermancic

  • Species-Specific Secondary Metabolite Production in Marine Actinomycetes of the Genus Salinispora

    Paul R. Jensen;Philip G. Williams;Dong-Chan Oh;Lisa Zeigler

  • The Marinopyrroles, Antibiotics of an Unprecedented Structure Class from a Marine Streptomyces sp.

    Chambers C. Hughes;Alejandra Prieto-Davo;Paul R. Jensen;William Fenical

  • Isolation and structure determination of diazonamides A and B, unusual cytotoxic metabolites from the marine ascidian Diazona chinensis

    Niels L Lindquist;William Fenical;Gregory D. Van Duyne;Jon Clardy

  • HALOGENATION IN THE RHODOPHYTA1,2 A REVIEW

    William Fenical

Frequent Co-Authors

Paul R. Jensen
Paul R. Jensen University of California, San Diego
Jon Clardy
Jon Clardy Harvard University
Mark E. Hay
Mark E. Hay Georgia Institute of Technology
Bradley S. Moore
Bradley S. Moore University of California, San Diego
Valerie J. Paul
Valerie J. Paul Smithsonian Institution
Carl Djerassi
Carl Djerassi Stanford University
Joseph R. Pawlik
Joseph R. Pawlik University of North Carolina Wilmington
Victor Nizet
Victor Nizet University of California, San Diego
Letícia V. Costa-Lotufo
Letícia V. Costa-Lotufo Universidade de São Paulo
Vassilios Roussis
Vassilios Roussis National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

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