Metabolomics Reveals Minor Tambjamines in a Marine Invertebrate Food Chain

J Nat Prod. 2021 Mar 26;84(3):790-796. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01043. Epub 2020 Dec 29.

Abstract

Metabolomics analysis detected tambjamine alkaloids in aqueous and EtOAc extracts of the marine invertebrates Virididentula dentata, Tambja stegosauriformis, Tambja brasiliensis, and Roboastra ernsti. Among several tambjamines, the new amino acid derivatives tambjamines M-O (17-19) were identified by Marfey's advanced analysis, UPLC-MS/MS analyses, and total synthesis. The tambjamine diversity increased from the bryozoan V. dentata to its nudibranch predators T. stegosauriformis and T. brasiliensis and attained a higher diversity in R. ernsti, the nudibranch that preys upon T. stegosauriformis and T. brasiliensis. The total tambjamine content also increases among the trophic levels, probably due to biomagnification. Tambjamines A (1), C (3), and D (4) are the major metabolites in the tissues of V. dentata, T. stegosauriformis, T. brasiliensis, and R. ernsti and are likely the main chemical defenses of these marine invertebrates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alkaloids / isolation & purification*
  • Animals
  • Aquatic Organisms / chemistry
  • Brazil
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Food Chain
  • Gastropoda / chemistry*
  • Metabolomics
  • Molecular Structure
  • Pyrroles / isolation & purification*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Alkaloids
  • Pyrroles