Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
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Antiprotozoal Compounds
Protozoan parasites may cause severe diseases like malaria, leishmaniasis, Chagas
disease, sleeping sickness, and amoebiasis. As of today, there are no protective vac-
cines against any of these diseases. Further, parasite resistance to existing drugs
has become a serious problem. Freshwater plants offer a variety of antiprotozoal
compounds, such as alkaloids, coumarins, lavonoids, terpenoids, phenolics, lignans,
tannins, quinines, quassinods, xanthones, etc.
RHIZOCLONIUM HIEROGLYPHICUM
(C. AGARDH) KUTZING, 1845
Phylum: Chlorophyta Class: Ulvophyceae
Order: Cladophorales Family: Cladophoraceae
Distribution: Europe, Central America, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, Australia,
New Zealand, Paciic Islands
Habitat: Freshwater, brackish water, and marine habitats
Description: In this unbranched, ilamentous species, rhizoids are rare or
absent. The cells (250 × 40 µm) of the ilaments are thin walled and cylin-
drical and are with thick and stratiied walls occasionally. The parietal
chloroplasts are net-like with several pyrenoids.
Compounds and activities: This species has yielded eight fatty acid amides,
including (Z)-9-octadecenamide as the major bioactive compound. The lat-
ter has shown antimalarial activity with mosquito larvicidal characteris-
tics (Wangchuk, 2004). Further, the cyclic diterpenoids, viz., β-sitosterol
(sterol) and transphytol (cyclic diterpenoid), of this species have shown anti-
bacterial activities.
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