title: Chemistry and biological activity of ramalina lichenized fungi.
abstract: Lichens are a form of symbiont between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium, which contains a wide variety of organic compounds with certain secondary metabolite classes typical of these organisms. The Ramalina genus has approximately 246 species distributed around the World, of which in this review approximately 118 species with published chemical or biological activity studies of extracts or isolated compounds were cited. From the 153 mentioned compounds, only 27 passed were tested for biological activity, being usnic acid the most studied compound and the one showing the best results in almost all in vitro tests performed, although other compounds also presented excellent results as antimicrobial, antitumor and anti-inflammatory agents, among others. Extracts of several species also presented significant results in performed biological tests, demonstrating the potential that these organisms have, in particular, the gender Ramalina, to produce bioactive molecules that can be used as a model for the production of pharmaceuticals.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ciências Químicas, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, UENF, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, 28013-602 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ansernam@iff.edu.br.|Instituto Federal Fluminense, IFF, Avenida Souza Mota 350, Parque Fundão, Campos dos Goytacazes, 28060-010 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ansernam@iff.edu.br.
authors.forename: Antônio Sérgio Nascimento
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ciências Químicas, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, UENF, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, 28013-602 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. braz@uenf.br.
authors.forename: Raimundo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Braz-Filho
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, UENF, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, 28013-602 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. vicmussi@uenf.br.
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mussi-Dias
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ciências Químicas, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, UENF, Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, 28013-602 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. curcino@uenf.br.
authors.forename: Ivo José Curcino
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Vieira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D053630:Depsides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008011:Lichens / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001572:Benzofurans; D053630:Depsides; C073339:usnic acid
keywords: Ramalina; antitumoral; biological activitiy; lichen; usnic acid