Abstract
After 40 years of intensive research, chemistry of marine natural products has become a mature field. Since 1995, there are signals of decreased interest in the search of new metabolites from traditional sources such as macroalgae and octocorals, and the number of annual reports on marine sponges stabilized. On the contrary, metabolites from microorganisms is a rapidly growing field, due, at least in part, to the suspicion that a number of metabolites obtained from algae and invertebrates may be produced by associated microorganisms. Studies are concerned with bacteria and fungi, isolated from seawater, sediments, algae, fish and mainly from marine invertebrates such as sponges, mollusks, tunicates, coelenterates and crustaceans. Although it is still to early to define tendencies, it may be stated that the metabolites from microorganisms are in most cases quite different from those produced by the invertebrate hosts. Nitrogenated metabolites predominate over acetate derivatives, and terpenes are uncommon. Among the latter, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes and carotenes have been isolated; among nitrogenated metabolites, amides, cyclic peptides and indole alkaloids predominate.
Highlights
In the early sixties, the increasing needs for drugs able to control new illnesses or resistant strains of microorganisms stimulated to look for unconventional new sources of bioactive natural products
The first goal of the studies on bacteria and/or fungi was to prove which from the marine invertebrates or their associated microorganisms are the true sources of isolated metabolites
The fire sponge Tedania ignis has been studied since the beginning of marine natural products chemistry because of its stinging properties
Summary
The increasing needs for drugs able to control new illnesses or resistant strains of microorganisms stimulated to look for unconventional new sources of bioactive natural products. More important was the suspicion that a number of metabolites obtained from algae and invertebrates could be produced by associated microorganisms. Studies have been concerned with bacteria and fungi, isolated from seawater, sediments, algae, fish and mainly from marine invertebrates such as sponges, mollusks, tunicates, coelenterates and crustacean (Table II).
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