Hydroperoxysterols from the Brazilian Brown Seaweeds Dictyopteris justii and Spatoglossum schroederi (Dictyotales): A Defensive Strategy against Herbivory

Extracts of the Brazilian brown seaweeds Dictyopteris justii and Spatoglossum schroederi showed the presence of a cytotoxic mixture of 24R- and 24S-epimers of 24-hydroperoxy-24-vinylcholesterol (1). The derivation of 1 from fucosterol is proposed. Laboratory experiments assessed the anti-herbivory p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Natural product communications 2006-04, Vol.1 (4)
Main Authors: Teixeira, V. L., Barbosa, J. P., Rocha, F. D., Kaplan, M. A. C., Houghton, P. J., Pereira, R. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Extracts of the Brazilian brown seaweeds Dictyopteris justii and Spatoglossum schroederi showed the presence of a cytotoxic mixture of 24R- and 24S-epimers of 24-hydroperoxy-24-vinylcholesterol (1). The derivation of 1 from fucosterol is proposed. Laboratory experiments assessed the anti-herbivory properties against the crab, Pachygrapsus transversus, of the crude extract and the epimers of 1 found in D. justii. The crude extract did not inhibit feeding, but the mixture of 1 epimers had a significant inhibitory effect. We propose that these unusual sterol compounds cannot be easily converted to assimilable compounds by this crustacean, thus acting as a defensive strategy for the seaweed against herbivory.
ISSN:1934-578X
1555-9475
DOI:10.1177/1934578X0600100405