http://www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs/special_issues/marine-natprod/ {snippet name="submission_info"} http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/1/82/ In the search for bioactive natural products, our lab screens hydrophobic extracts from marine fungal strains. While hydrophilic active substances were recently identified from marine macro-organisms, there was a lack of reported metabolites in the marine fungi area. As such, we decided to develop a general procedure for screening of hydrophobic metabolites. The aim of this study was to compare different processes of fermentation and extraction, using six representative marine fungal strains, in order to define the optimized method for production. The parameters studied were (a) which polar solvent to select, (b) which fermentation method to choose between solid and liquid cultures, (c) which raw material, the mycelium or its medium, to extract and (d) which extraction process to apply. The biochemical analysis and biological evaluations of obtained extracts led to the conclusion that the culture of marine fungi by agar surface fermentation followed by the separate extraction of the mycelium and its medium by a cryo-crushing and an enzymatic digestion with agarase, respectively, was the best procedure when screening for hydrophilic bioactive metabolites. During this development, several bioactivities were detected, confirming the potential of hydrophilic crude extracts in the search for bioactive natural products. http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/1/82/ Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:00:00 CET Marine Drugs 2011-01-10 9 1 Article 82 97 1660-3397 Search for Hydrophilic Marine Fungal Metabolites: A Rational Approach for Their Production and Extraction in a Bioactivity Screening Context 2011-01-10 doi: 10.3390/md9010082 Carine Le Ker Karina-Ethel Petit Jean-François Biard Joël Fleurence http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/12/2906/ The amino acid, tyrosine, and its hydroxylated product, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa), plays an important role in the biogenesis of a number of potentially important bioactive molecules in marine organisms. Interestingly, several of these tyrosyl and dopa‑containing compounds possess dehydro groups in their side chains. Examples span the range from simple dehydrotyrosine and dehydrodopamines to complex metabolic products, including peptides and polycyclic alkaloids. Based on structural information, these compounds can be subdivided into five categories: (a) Simple dehydrotyrosine and dehydrotyramine containing molecules; (b) simple dehydrodopa derivatives; (c) peptidyl dehydrotyrosine and dehydrodopa derivatives; (d) multiple dehydrodopa containing compounds; and (e) polycyclic condensed dehydrodopa derivatives. These molecules possess a wide range of biological activities that include (but are not limited to) antitumor activity, antibiotic activity, cytotoxicity, antioxidant activity, multidrug resistance reversal, cell division inhibition, immunomodulatory activity, HIV-integrase inhibition, anti-viral, and anti-feeding (or feeding deterrent) activity. This review summarizes the structure, distribution, possible biosynthetic origin, and biological activity, of the five categories of dehydrotyrosine and dehydrodopa containing compounds. http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/12/2906/ Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:00:00 CET Marine Drugs 2010-12-06 8 12 Review 2906 2935 1660-3397 Bioactive Dehydrotyrosyl and Dehydrodopyl Compounds of Marine Origin 2010-12-06 doi: 10.3390/md8122906 Manickam Sugumaran William E. Robinson http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/11/2744/ The new secondary metabolites verrucosidinol (1) and its derivative verrucosidinol acetate (2), together with a potent neurotoxin verrucosidin (3), a congener norverrucosidin (4) and a mixture of two known phytotoxic metabolites terrestric acids (5 and 6), were isolated from the marine derived fungus Penicillium aurantiogriseum. Verrucosidinol has a ring-opened ethylene oxide moiety in the polyene α-pyrone skeleton, and verrucosidinol acetate is its acetate derivative. The chemical structures were determined by comparing with literature data and a combination of spectroscopic techniques, including high resolution mass spectrum and two-dimentional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analysis. http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/11/2744/ Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 CET Marine Drugs 2010-11-01 8 11 Article 2744 2754 1660-3397 Verrucisidinol and Verrucosidinol Acetate, Two Pyrone-Type Polyketides Isolated from a Marine Derived Fungus, Penicillium aurantiogriseum 2010-11-01 doi: 10.3390/md8112744 Ke Yu Biao Ren Junli Wei Caixia Chen Jinsheng Sun Fuhang Song Huanqin Dai Lixin Zhang