Special Issue "Bioactive Halogenated Metabolites of Marine Origin"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Vassilios Roussis
University of Athens, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, GR 15771, Athens, Greece
E-Mail: roussis@pharm.uoa.gr
Phone: +30 210 7274 592
Fax: +30 210 7274 592
Interests: marine natural products; chemotaxonomy; chemical ecology

Dear Colleagues,

Halogenated secondary metabolites, while rare in terrestrial plants, are common in marine organisms due to the abundance of chloride and bromide ions in seawater. Marine biota produce a variety of halogen containing organic compounds that have 1-30 carbon atoms. Organisms that have the ability to form halogenated compounds have been found among various species of algae, bacteria, sponges, mollusks, coelenterates and several marine worms.

Interestingly, bromine is the most commonly found halogen in marine natural products, even though its concentration in seawater is lower than that of chlorine. Of all marine organisms, algae possess the highest abundance of unique biosynthetic pathways for organohalogen production.

Seaweeds probably produce halogenated organics as part of a defense system against microorganism infections, herbivore grazing, space competitors, detrimental fouling by different kinds of epiphytes, or excess of self-generated hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide. The chemotaxonomic value of these compounds has been seriously considered in the past but the geographic and seasonal variation in the chemical composition of algal species has reduced their importance.

A significant number of algal halogenated metabolites have exhibited an impressive array of biological properties ranging from antimicrobial to insecticidal activities.

Prof. Dr. Vassilios Roussis
Guest Editor

Submission

All papers should be submitted to marinedrugs@mdpi.com with a copy to the Guest Editor. Papers will be published continuously until the deadline and will be listed together at the special issue website. Research articles and review articles are both invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editors for announcement on this website.

Submitted papers should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All papers are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Instructions for Authors page. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed quarterly journal published by Molecular Diversity Preservation International.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a paper. Open Access Article Processing Charges are 1000 CHF per paper. English correction fees (250 CHF) will be added in certain cases (1250 CHF per paper for those papers that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.). Starting 1 January 2010, Article Processing Charges are of 1400 CHF per accepted article for Marine Drugs.

• biosynthesis
• structure elucidation
• bioactivity
• chemotaxonomy
• chemical ecology