Extracts of a marine Pseudoalteromonas. sp (CMMED 290) isolated from the surface of a nudibranch collected in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu displayed significant antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the lipophilic extract led to the isolation and structure elucidation of two new highly brominated compounds, 2,3,5,7-tetrabromobenzofuro[3,2-b]pyrrole 1 and 4,4′,6-tribromo-2,2′-biphenol 2. In addition, we have identified the known compounds pentabromopseudilin and bromophene. We describe the isolation and structure elucidation of the compounds 1 and 2 together with their antimicrobial activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.The continuing emergence of antibiotic resistance in clinically relevant pathogens has placed considerable pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to develop novel drug candidates. 1 A prime example of the urgent need for novel antibiotic compounds is the Gram-positive bacterium methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In recent years, several reports of clinical resistance to traditional drugs of last resort for the treatment of MRSA infections, such as vancomycin and teicoplanin have appeared. 2 The development of MRSA infection from an originally hospital-acquired disease (HA-MRSA) to a communityassociated problem (CA-MRSA) provides additional reason for concern and makes this pathogen a primary target of antibiotic discovery programs. 3 Proteobacteria isolated from diverse marine environments have been shown to be prolific producers of secondary metabolites. 4 As part of our screening program aimed at the discovery of pharmaceutical lead compounds for the treatment of infective and neoplastic diseases we have previously reported on the isolation of metabolites from marine Proteobacteria belonging to the genus Pseudoalteromonas associated with marine invertebrates. 5 Another marine bacterial isolate streaked from the surface of a nudibranch collected in shallow waters of Kaneohe Bay, Oahu and deposited in our collection as CMMED 290 was shown to be a Pseudoalteromonas sp. based on its 16S rDNA gene sequence. The EtOAc extracts of cultures grown in marine broth displayed significant broad-spectrum biological activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 43300), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), and Candida albicans as well as the human ovarian adenocarcinoma cell line SKOV-3 (ATCC HTB-77).* To whom correspondence may be addressed. Phone: 1-808-956-6401; Fax: 1-808-956-5908; hemschei@hawaii.edu. Supporting Information Available: 1 H-NMR and 13 C-NMR spectra of 1 and 2 and spectroscopic data for the known compounds pentabromopseudilin, bromophene, 3,5-dibromosalicylic acid and 3,5-dibromosalicylamide. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org. Large-scale fermentation, extraction and bioassay-guided fractionation of CMMED 290 led to the identification of two highly brominated compounds, 1 and 2, that...