Abstract

Natural products have been the single most productive source of leads for the development of drugs, because of the great variety of their chemical structures. Previous chemical investigation of members of the genus Cystoseira resulted in the discovery of various bioactive secondary metabolites. The secondary metabolites isolated and characterized are very interesting, both from the biological activity and structural complexity points of view, which make this genus an attractive target for further investigations. The present review covers the research progress on natural products isolated from this genus since January 1995 until now, concerning the isolation and structural elucidation of the secondary metabolites from Cystoseira species. In this contribution significant biological properties are briefly discussed. Simultaneously, we gradually construct an intra-molecular pathway that logically interrelates the isolated compounds.

Keywords: Cystoseira, meroterpenoids, tetraprenyltoluquinols, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, antimicrobial activity, cytotoxicity.