Antifouling activity of meroditerpenoids from the marine brown alga Halidrys siliquosa.

Nine tetraprenyltoluquinol-related metabolites (1-9) have been isolated from the organic extract of the temperate brown alga Halidrys siliquosa that exhibits antifouling properties. The planar structure of compounds 1-9 was elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis and by comparison of the data with those of related metabolites. Antifouling and toxicity tests were conducted on these compounds: the most active (compounds 2, 6, and 9) inhibited both the growth of four strains of bacteria (MICs < 2.5 microg/mL) and settlement of cyprids of Balanus amphitrite (EC50 < 5 microg/mL), the latter at nontoxic concentrations (LC50 > 5 microg/mL).