Avanços na pesquisa de bioativos de algas

Abstract

EditorialBrazil possesses an enormous aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity that is intimately linked with the rich socio-cultural heritage of the country. In the marine environment, algae are one of the largest groups in terms of diversity. Of the total of 32,000 known species, at least 820 taxa have been identifi ed along the Brazilian coast. In order to survive in the highly competitive aquatic environment, both freshwater and marine algae have developed defense strategies that rely on a tremendous diversity of compounds produced by several different metabolic pathways. This makes algae particularly promising as the source of novel biochemically-active compounds, in addition to compounds essential for human nutrition. Four major areas of research in aquatic natural products have developed since 1975: toxins, bioproducts, chemotaxonomy and chemical ecology. Spurred by the advent of sophisticated spectral techniques for structural characterization, the chemical structures of over 13,000 novel compounds isolated from algae have been determined in the last 35 years.Macroalgae occur globally and, because they are at the base of the food chain, serve as the source of nutrients for a wide range of aquatic organisms. They are the main nitrate and CO 2 consumers and release vast quantities of molecular oxygen into the atmosphere via photosynthesis. They also provide shelter and protection for small fi sh and other aquatic organisms. Consequently, algae play a vital role in the maintenance of the marine equilibrium, in the preservation of biodiversity and in mitigating global warming. In many countries, food industries employ a wide range of algal derivatives that contain high contents of fi ber, polyunsaturated fatty acids, polysaccharides, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Algae and algal products also have an economic impact in several other Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia Brazilian Journal of Pharmacognosy 21(2):

Evaluation of impacts of climate change and local stressors on the biotechnological potential of marine macroalgae: a brief theoretical discussion of likely scenarios

“…These organisms have traditionally been harvested or cultivated as a food source, such as agar or carrageenan, or for the extraction of secondary metabolites used in the pharmaceutical industry (Marinho-Soriano et al, 2011). In this context, representatives of the genera Laurencia and Dictyota (Lhullier et al, 2010;Domingos et al, 2011;Garrido et al, 2011;Machado et al, 2011;Moura et al, 2011) are target organisms for studies on many different levels of pharmaceutical investigation.…”