Diterpenes from the Marine Algae of the Genus Dictyota

The species of Dictyota is a rich source of biologically active secondary metabolites with different structural features. Good advances have been made in the discovery of diterpenes with extensive chemical protective activity of this genus. Most of these diterpenes have important biological activities such as antiviral activity, cytotoxic activity and chemoprotective activity. This review summarizes diterpenes isolated from brown algae of this genus. View full text

Marine brown algae of the genus Dictyota belong to the family Dictyotaceae and are mainly distributed in subtropical and tropical oceans. Structurally diverse secondary metabolites from members of this genus are inherently defensive and found to greatly facilitate their successful survival and reproduction in complex and diverse marine environments. Hundreds of bioactive natural products, including terpenes, phenols, sterols, fatty acids and polysaccharides, were isolated from marine brown algae of the genus Dictyota. Dioxin is a kind of various natural products found in marine organisms including Dictyota species. Due to its outstanding pharmacological activity, several diterpenes are promising candidates. Several diterpenoids from Dictyota species are considered to be characteristic components of genus and give taxonomic significance to them.

The species of Dictyota is a rich source of biologically active secondary metabolites with different structural features. Good advances have been made in the discovery of diterpenes with extensive chemical protective activity of this genus. Most of these diterpenes have important biological activities such as antiviral activity, cytotoxic activity and chemoprotective activity. This review summarizes diterpenes isolated from brown algae of this genus. View full text

This review systematically summarizes the structure and biological activity of diterpenoids from members of the genus Dictyota, citing 80 or more references. As of the end of 2017, a total of 233 diterpenoids were isolated from Dictyota species, mostly from the sea brown algae Dictyota dichotoma. Many of these diterpenes are reported to have several interesting biological activities including cytotoxicity and antiviral activity. Based on the widely cited revised biogenetic approach, diterpenoids from Dictyota species are classified into three groups (I to III) produced by the initial formal cyclization of geranyl-geranol precursors can do. Group 1 contains diterpenes, which are obtained by first cyclizing the geranyl-geranol precursor between C - 1 and C - 10. Diterpenoids in group 1 are mainly known as prenylated derivatives of sesquiterpene skeletons, including isopentenyl-heptane, prenylated-germcran and prenylated-epi-elemene.