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Review
. 2022 Jun 9;20(6):389.
doi: 10.3390/md20060389.

Updated Trends on the Biodiscovery of New Marine Natural Products from Invertebrates

Ricardo Calado  1 , Renato Mamede  1 , Sónia Cruz  1 , Miguel C Leal  1
Affiliations
Review

Updated Trends on the Biodiscovery of New Marine Natural Products from Invertebrates

Ricardo Calado et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

From 1990-2019, a total of 15,442 New Marine Natural Products from Invertebrates (NMNPIs) were reported. The 2010s saw the most prolific decade of biodiscovery, with 5630 NMNPIs recorded. The phyla that contributed most biomolecules were the Porifera (sponges) (47.2%, 2659 NMNPIs) and the Cnidaria (35.3%, 1989 NMNPIs). The prevalence of these two phyla as the main sources of NMNPIs became more pronounced in the 2010s. The tropical areas of the Pacific Ocean yielded more NMNPIs, most likely due to the remarkable biodiversity of coral reefs. The Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot (BH) was the most relevant area for the biodiscovery of NMNPIs in the 2010s, accounting for nearly one-third (1819 NMNPIs) of the total and surpassing the top BH from the 1990s and the 2000s (the Sea of Japan and the Caribbean Islands, respectively). The Chinese exclusive economic zone (EEZ) alone contributed nearly one-quarter (24.7%) of all NMNPIs recorded during the 2010s, displacing Japan's leading role from the 1990s and the 2000s. With the biodiscovery of these biomolecules steadily decreasing since 2012, it is uncertain whether this decline has been caused by lower bioprospecting efforts or the potential exhaustion of chemodiversity from traditional marine invertebrate sources.

Keywords: biomolecules; bioprospecting; corals; sponges; zoogeography.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cumulative number of new marine natural products discovered from invertebrate phyla between 1990 and 2019 (Chordata solely refers to tunicates; “Other” refers to the phyla Annelida, Bryozoa, Arthropoda, Brachiopoda, Hemichordata, and Platyhelmintes).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cumulative number of new marine natural products discovered from the most representative families within the phylum Porifera (Agelasidae, Ancorinidae, Chalinidae, Dysideidae, Halichondriidae, Petrosiidae, Plakinidae, Spongiidae, Theonellidae, and Thorectidae).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cumulative number of new marine natural products discovered from the most representative families within the phylum Cnidaria (Alcyoniidae, Briareidae, Ellisellidae, Gorgoniidae, Nephtheidae, Plexauridae, and Xeniidae,) from 2010–2019.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The three genera of marine invertebrates that yielded more new marine natural products from 2010–2019; soft corals within family Alcyoniidae, phylum Cnidaria: (A) Sinularia; (B) Sarcophyton; and (C) Lobophyton.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Cumulative number of new marine natural products from invertebrates discovered within different Economic Exclusive Zones during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. The Boundaries of biodiversity hotspots worldwide are also presented.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Cumulative number of new marine natural products from invertebrates discovered in different biodiversity hotspots (BH) during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. (A) Polynesia-Micronesia, (B) Caribbean Islands, (C) Mediterranean Sea, (D) Indo-Burma, and (E) Sea of Japan.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Cumulative number of new marine natural products from invertebrates discovered in different large marine ecosystems (LMEs) during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. (A) Caribbean Sea, (B) South China Sea, (C) East China Sea, and (D) Kuroshio Current.
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