title: New Caledonia: A 'Hot Spot' for Valuable Chemodiversity. Part 1: Gymnosperms.
abstract: The flora of New Caledonia encompasses more than 3,000 species and almost 80% of them are endemic. New Caledonia is considered as a 'hot spot' for biodiversity. With the current global loss of biodiversity, and the fact that several drugs and pesticides are becoming obsolete, there is an urgent need to increase sampling and research on new natural products. In this context, we review the chemical information available on New Caledonian native flora from economical perspectives. We expect that a better knowledge of the economic potential will encourage the plantation of native plants for the development of a sustainable economy which will participate in the conservation of biodiversity. In the first part of this review, we discuss the results reported in 18 scientific articles on the chemicals isolated from 23 endemic conifers of New Caledonia. Several bioactive and original products, such as neocallitropsene or libocedrins, have been isolated from these conifers. This review also highlights several groups, such as Podocarpus spp., that are unexplored in New Caledonia despite the fact that they have been described in other countries to contain a wide range of original bioactive compounds. Those plants are considered as priority for future chemical investigations.
authors.affiliation: Institut Agronomique néo-Calédonien, Connaissance et Amélioration des Agrosystèmes, BP A5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia, (phone: +687-260769; fax: +687-264326). coulerie@iac.nc, paul.coulerie@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coulerie
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche de Gif, Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, CNRS, Labex LERMIT, 1 Avenue de la Terrasse, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex.
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Poullain
mesh_terms: D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D032462:Cycadopsida / Q000737:chemistry*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009510:New Caledonia; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Chemodiversity; Conifers; Cytotoxic activity; Gymnosperms; New Caledonian flora