Marine Natural Products from New Caledonia—A Review

Abstract

Marine micro- and macroorganisms are well known to produce metabolites with high biotechnological potential. Nearly 40 years of systematic prospecting all around the New Caledonia archipelago and several successive research programs have uncovered new chemical leads from benthic and planktonic organisms. After species identification, biological and/or pharmaceutical analyses are performed on marine organisms to assess their bioactivities. A total of 3582 genera, 1107 families and 9372 species have been surveyed and more than 350 novel molecular structures have been identified. Along with their bioactivities that hold promise for therapeutic applications, most of these molecules are also potentially useful for cosmetics and food biotechnology. This review highlights the tremendous marine diversity in New Caledonia, and offers an outline of the vast possibilities for natural products, especially in the interest of pursuing collaborative fundamental research programs and developing local biotechnology programs.

Coral reef ecosystem services in the Anthropocene

“…As such, reefs underpin a diversity of livelihoods and associated identities (Cinner, ) and also provide opportunities for research and education (e.g. Motuhi, Mehiri, Payri, Barre, & Bach, ). Supporting services include important habitat and biodiversity services for the reef and adjoining ecosystems (Fisher et al, ; Gillis et al, ) that indirectly contribute to human well‐being, but are challenging to capture in terms of their independent service value (Hicks, ).…”

“…Coral reefs can underpin the discovery of compounds with high biotechnological potential (Motuhi et al, )…”

“…As such, reefs underpin a diversity of livelihoods and associated identities (Cinner, 2014) and also provide opportunities for research and education (e.g. Motuhi, Mehiri, Payri, Barre, & Bach, 2016 (Fisher et al, 2015) The diversity of reefs contributes to the maintenance of a genetic library (Moberg & Folke, 1999) Habitat Describes the services and benefits gained from having a reef ecosystem that provides key habitat Corals engineer the environment, interacting with and creating suitable conditions for other tropical nearshore ecosystems (Gillis et al, 2014) The structural complexity of reefs provides important refugia for species (Graham & Nash, 2013) Reefs provide habitat for species at different life stages (Ortiz & Tissot, 2012) Regulating (regulates the environment)…”

Impact of Light Intensity on Antioxidant Activity of Tropical Microalgae

“…In this study, we aimed to explore the bio and chemodiversity of microalgae present in lagoons of New Caledonia, a well-known hotspot of biodiversity [37,38]. Specific environmental conditions (i.e., high UV radiation owing to the leaner ozone layer and high metal concentration of natural origin or caused by mining activity) made these lagoons a source of original microalgae strains with unusual phenotypes, and promising molecules.…”

“…Specific environmental conditions (i.e., high UV radiation owing to the leaner ozone layer and high metal concentration of natural origin or caused by mining activity) made these lagoons a source of original microalgae strains with unusual phenotypes, and promising molecules. In this context, microalgae strains were isolated from areas of New Caledonia particularly exposed to metal-rich terrigenous inputs, with strong variation and exposure to sun, salinity, and temperature [37]. We hypothesized that microalgae exposed to these stressful environments might have developed adaptive mechanisms using original secondary metabolites with interesting antioxidant properties.…”