The contribution of natural products chemistry to invasion biology: case studies in the Mediterranean

Marine invasive species are having a tremendous impact on the Mediterranean biota, which is losing its biological distinctiveness under the continuous pressure of biological invasions. The new scenario calls for a better understanding of the factors that affect marine biological invasions, and for the development of effective and knowledge-based strategies to face this relevant threat to local biodiversity. Moving in this direction, recent research on selected key cases underlines the importance of natural product-based tools to study poorly characterized biological processes associated to marine invasions (Raniello et al. 2007; Mollo et al. 2008; Terlizzi et al. 2011; Felline et al. 2012). These studies stemmed from a growing interest in the use of natural products as probes to appreciate the remarkable complexity of biological systems. Small organic molecules, in fact, interact with biological targets/macromolecules with high affinity and selectivity, acting as mediators of evolutionarily significant biological phenomena. This is the long-term result of selective pressures, including competition, predation, food resources, and successful reproduction. However, when non-indigenous species invade a new environment, in the absence of past co-evolutionary processes (rapid evolution), their bioactive compounds may start exerting unexpected and dramatic effects on the native communities, playing a critical role in the behaviour, spread, and impact of the invaders. A holistic and decompartmentalized approach to biological invasions, aimed at considering and evaluating the often neglected effects of well-defined chemical entities through progressively higher levels of biological complexity, is proposed here for a better appreciation, monitoring, and management of marine biological invasions. References Raniello R, Mollo E, Lorenti M, Gavagnin M, Buia MC (2007) Biological Invasions 9 : 361-8. Mollo E, Gavagnin M, Carbone M, Castelluccio F, Pozone F, Roussis V, Templado J, Ghiselin MT, Cimino G (2008) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105:4582-6 Terlizzi A, Felline S, Lionetto MG, Caricato R, Perfetti V, Cutignano A, Mollo E (2011) Aquatic Biology 12: 109-17 Felline S, Caricato R, Cutignano A, Gorbi S, Lionetto MG, Mollo E, Regoli F, Terlizzi A (2012) PloS ONE 7(6):e38763.