ABSTRACT
To date, a considerable amount of knowledge has been accumulated on the chemical characteristics and biological activities of microalgal polyether natural products, and those topics are discussed in depth elsewhere in this book. This chapter will focus on how those complex compounds are produced by microalgae. We will begin by discussing the basic mechanism of how fatty acids and polyketides are biosynthesized. This will serve as an introduction to further discussion on the current understanding of how polyether natural products are biosynthesized. Then we will present a review of what is currently known about the biosynthesis of different microalgal
1School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Selangor 43500, Malaysia. Email: kinya.hotta@nottingham.edu.my 2Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, City of Shizuoka, Japan, 422-8526. Email: kenji55@u-shizuoka-ken.ac.jp *Corresponding author
List of abbreviations after the text.
