Bioactive Compounds from Polar Regions: An Account of Chemical Ecology and Biotechnological Applications

Organisms living in polar regions experience harsh environmental conditions. To cope and adapt to the extreme conditions, organisms produce specialized metabolites. Such metabolites exhibit various biological activities and thus find application in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. Numerous secondary metabolites have been isolated from polar organisms that exhibited interesting biological properties. With ongoing climate change and the opening up of the polar regions for resource exploration, it is important to realize the natural product potential and scope of the regions. This review describes a brief account of bioactive compounds reported from polar organisms along with their ecological perspective and biotechnological applications. We present a detailed overview of the chemical structures of the compounds isolated from polar regions, which are grouped into usnic acid, MAAs, asterric acids, depsides, depsidones and psedodepsidones, alkaloids, polysaccharides and exopolysaccharides. We have also discussed the ecological significance of the compounds, covering a general aspect as well as a specific account, wherever reported, along with bioactivities. The review covers the literature reported from 2010 to 2020.