Sterol Ring System Oxidation Pattern in Marine Sponges

The marine sponges (Porifera) are a unique group of sedentary organisms from which several novel natural products are reported, many of which have useful biological activities. In producing unusual sterols, they occupy a preeminent position among the various groups of organisms. The polar sterols of sponges reported as at the end of the year 2002 number about 250; their ring structure changing a hundred times. The oxidation pattern in the sterol ring system, from the point of view of biogenesis seems to be mainly of four types. Each sponge species is able to produce sterols fitting into one of the four main biogenetic pathways viz., (i) 3β-hydroxy-Δ5-sterol pathway, (ii) 3β-hydroxy-Δ7-sterol pathway, (iii) 3β-hydroxy-Δ5,7-sterol pathway, and (iv) 3α-hydroxy sterol pathway.