Chemical and biochemical studies of Antarctic benthic invertebrates.

The report describes the bio-chemical surveys on three marine invertebrates selected between more than one hundred samples of the Antarctica fauna. In detail, the paper discusses the isolation, structural characterization and biological properties of secondary metabolites from the sponges Dendrilla membranosa and Hymeniacidon fernandezi and from the nudibranch Austrodoris kerguelenensis. The biochemical comparison of the lipid composition from the Antarctic D. membranosa and the Mediterranean sponge Spongionella gracilis is also illustrated. Finally, the synthesis of biologically active diacylglycerides, similar to the defensive products isolated from A. kerguelenensis, is described briefly.