Biosynthetic studies through feeding experiments in marine organisms

This chapter deals with feeding experiments in biosynthetic studies of secondary metabolites from marine organisms. The evolution of the field is traced through a critical report of both review papers published from the 1980s and selected studies published in the latest years. The progress in the methodologies, from simple modification of advanced precursors, through incorporation of substrates with radioactive or stable isotopes, to recent extensive use of molecular genetic techniques, served as a main guideline for the preparation of this overview. Finally, after a section dedicated to the methodologies, the biosynthesis of oxylipins from diatoms and propionates from Mediterranean sacoglossans, recently conducted in the authors' institute, will be discussed with more detail.