Book reviews

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Drugs from the Sea

N. Fusetani, Karger, Basel, 2000, pp. vi + 158, price CHF139, DM180, $121, ISBN 3-8055-7098-8  Search PubMedRegular readers of John Faulkner’s reviews on marine natural products for this journal will not be surprised that more than 10 000 new compounds have been isolated from marine sources since 1969. More surprising (and depressing) is the fact that no drugs have emerged. It is true that 300 patents have been published during this period, and at least ten compounds are currently under serious clinical evaluation, but there are as yet no drugs. Another problem has always been one of supply. Terrestrial plants can be grown and harvested for their natural products (e.g. 10-deacetylbaccatin III from the yew as a precursor of Taxol), microorganisms can provide large quantities of metabolites using fermentation technology; but what can be done with a sea slug, sponge or soft coral?

A progress report on these and other issues is provided by the authors of this monograph. Bill Fenical and Paul Jensen review comprehensively the current situation with respect to marine microorganisms and drug discovery, and there are other more specialised reviews on marine sponges, opisthobranch mollusks, and microalgae. The sheer diversity of structures is, as always, one of the most fascinating aspects of marine natural products chemistry. Why for example does the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula make so many different kinds of exotic structures, many of which have tempted synthetic chemists.

The middle section of the book has details of several compounds that are actually under clinical evaluation like ω-conotoxin (as an analgesic) from the cone snail Conus magus; a novel analogue of the agelasphins from the Okinawan sponge Agelus mauritianus which has interesting cytotoxic and immunostimulatory activity; and the zoanthamines which have some activity in osteoporosis. The final section reveals the problems associated with the large-scale production of marine natural products. The one success story is the aquaculture of Bugula nerita which produces bryostatin I and is in phase II clinical trials as an anti-cancer agent. Even this is not without problems since El Niño wreaked havoc with the culture beds off the Californian coast, and there is still a large degree of apathy from the large pharmaceutical companies. John Faulkner explores the possibility that bacterial symbionts of sponges are the organisms that actually produce the interesting natural products, since this could facilitate their production through fermentation technology. He concludes that in most cases the symbionts are not the main producers of the biologically interesting metabolites.

This is an interesting monograph, but in a fast-moving area, it provides only a snapshot and anyone with a serious interest will find much more information in John Faulkner’s past and future reviews for this journal.

John Mann
Queen’s University Belfast, UK

The phytochemistry of the macro and blue-green algae of the Arabian Gulf

A. M. Rizk, H. S. Al-Easa and J. M. Kornprobst, Doha – University of Qatar, Faculty of Science, 1999, pp. xix + 745, price $75, ISBN 99921-46-64-8  Search PubMedThis ambitious reference volume is divided up into three main parts. The first is a general introduction of the chemistry of marine algae. It begins with a description of their biology, classification and primary metabolism which serves as a useful reminder. It then focuses on secondary metabolites and reviews each of the four main classes in turn. The authors here have relied perhaps too much on the figures carrying the text, although they have included excellent figures outlining the biosyntheses of the main secondary metabolite frameworks. A useful inclusion in this chapter is the main applications of algae, including a worldwide resource estimation.

The second, very brief part of the book is a list of algae in the Arabian Gulf. Some colour plates of the main species have been included for reference. It is not clear from the initial listing which of these species are endemic to the Arabian Gulf, and which can be found elsewhere. It is included in the next part of the book, but listing it alongside local distribution would have been very pertinent and would have made this part a great deal more useful.

The main body of the book, part three, is concerned with the chemical constituents found in Arabian Gulf algae. It is again divided into the four main classes, and subdivided into genera in alphabetical order. The authority for each species classification has been listed, making this a valuable reference volume for chemotaxonomists. An added feature is the listing of species of which the secondary metabolites are, as yet, undetermined. This part of the book suffers from the fact that it is merely a listing of the chemistry of all these species, with little perhaps to draw all this information together. This part is a goldmine of information for anyone interested in chemotaxonomy, and one would have expected the authors to make more of this.

The book contains a glossary and extensive reference section and it is indexed by species names as well as the chemical name. An added formula or structural index would again have extended the utility of this book. Although undoubtedly a lot of work went into producing this book, it feels as though the listing of all the chemistry gets in the way of a scholarly interpretation of the data.

Marcel Jaspars
University of Aberdeen

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