Statistical research on marine natural products based on data obtained between 1985 and 2008

Abstract

Since the 1960s, more than 20,000 compounds were discovered from marine organisms. In this paper we performed a quantitative analysis for the novel marine natural products reported between 1985 and 2008. The data was extracted mainly from the reviews of Faulkner and Blunt [1-26]. The organisms producing these marine natural products are divided into three major biological classes: marine microorganisms (including phytoplankton), marine algae and marine invertebrate. The marine natural products are divided into seven classes based on their chemical structure: terpenoids, steroids (including steroidal saponins), alkaloids, ethers (including ketals), phenols (including quinones), strigolactones, and peptides. The distribution and the temporal trend of these classes (biological classes and chemical structure classes) were investigated. We hope this article provides a comprehensive perspective on the research of marine natural products.

Keywords: marine natural products; novel compounds; quantitative analysis.

Figure 1.

Temporal trend in the number of novel products obtained from marine organisms.

Figure 2.

Temporal trends in the number of novel compounds isolated from different marine organisms between 1985 and 2008. ▵, marine invertebrate; ▪, marine algae; ♦, Marine microorganisms (including phytoplankton).

Figure 3.

The number of novel compounds isolated from marine invertebrate between 1985 and 2008.

Figure 4.

Temporal trends in the number of novel compounds isolated from marine invertebrate between 1985 and 2008. *, Chordates; ▪, cnidarians; ▵, molluscs; ♦, porifera; •, echinoderms.

Figure 5.

The number of novel compounds isolated from marine algae between 1985 and 2008.

Figure 6.

Temporal trends in the number of novel compounds isolated from marine algae between 1985 and 2008. ▪, brown algae; ▵, Red algae; ♦, green algae.

Figure 7.

The number of novel compounds isolated from marine microorganisms (including phytoplankton) between 1985 and 2008.

Figure 8.

Temporal trends in the number of novel compounds isolated from marine microorganisms (including phytoplankton) between 1985 and 2008. ▪, Fungi; ▵, bacteria; ♦, actinomycetes; ×, Phytoplankton.

Figure 9.

Distribution of the chemical compounds isolated from marine organisms between 1985 and 2008.

Figure 10.

Temporal trends in the percentage of marine natural products reported from 1985 to 2008. *, Peptides; ▪, steroids; ▵, alkaloids; ♦, terpenoids.

Figure 11.

Distribution of novel compounds isolated from marine organisms, between 1985 and 2008.