Biodiversity of benthic invertebrates and bioprospecting in Icelandic waters

Iceland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, with an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles that is largely unexplored with respect to chemical constituents of the marine biota. Iceland is a geothermally active area and hosts both hot and cold adapted organisms on land and in the ocean a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Phytochemistry reviews 2013-09, Vol.12 (3), p.517-529
Main Authors: Omarsdottir, Sesselja, Einarsdottir, Eydis, Ögmundsdottir, Helga M, Freysdottir, Jona, Olafsdottir, Elin Soffia, Molinski, Tadeusz F, Svavarsson, Jörundur
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic life
Biochemistry
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Bioprospecting
Biota
Chemistry/Food Science
cooperative research
hosts
Hydrothermal plumes
Invertebrata
Invertebrates
Life Sciences
Marine
Marine environment
Marine organisms
Natural products
new species
Ocean floor
Organic Chemistry
Organisms
Plant Genetics and Genomics
Plant Sciences
Warm water
Water masses
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Summary:Iceland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, with an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles that is largely unexplored with respect to chemical constituents of the marine biota. Iceland is a geothermally active area and hosts both hot and cold adapted organisms on land and in the ocean around it. In particular, the confluence of cold and warm water masses and geothermal activity creates a unique marine environment that has not been evaluated for the potential of marine natural product diversity. Marine organisms need to protect themselves from other organisms trying to overgrow, and some need to secure their place on the bottom of the ocean. Unexplored and unique areas such as the hydrothermal vent site at the sea floor in Eyjafjordur are of particular interest. In 1992 a collaborative research programme on collecting and identifying benthic invertebrates around Iceland (BIOICE) was established, with participation of Icelandic and foreign institutes, universities and taxonomists on benthic invertebrates from all over the world. Since the programme started almost 2,000 species have been identified and of those 41 species are new to science. Our recent bioprospecting project is directed towards the first systematic investigation of the marine natural product diversity of benthic invertebrates occurring in Icelandic waters, and their potential for drug-lead discovery in several key therapeutic areas.
ISSN:1568-7767
1572-980X
DOI:10.1007/s11101-012-9243-7