Acides gras inhabituels des organismes marins : une illustration de la biodiversité moléculaire marine

Groupe mer, molécules, santé (MMS), EA 2160, Équipe lipides marins à activité biologique, Faculté des sciences pharmaceutiques et biologiques, Pôle mer et littoral, Université de Nantes, 1, rue Gaston-Veil, BP 53508, 44035 Nantes cedex 01, France

^* gilles.barnathan@univ-nantes.fr

Abstract

In addition to the common polyunsaturated fatty acids (FA) such as those of the n-3 and n-6 series with major interest in health and nutrition, marine organisms (invertebrates and algae) produce unique FA including branched, methoxylated, halogenated, acetylenic and non-methylene-interrupted structures. The biosynthetic pathways, and the structural and functional roles of these uncommon FA are often not yet known. This short overview wishes to be an outline on the particular FA classes possessing uncommon structures, especially those of increasing interest regarding their promising biological activities.