Dietary derived sesquiterpenes from Phyllodesmium lizardensis

The recently discovered new aeolidean species Phyllodesmium lizardensis Burghardt, Schrodl and Wagele, 2008 was investigated concerning its secondary metabolite profile. P. lizardensis so far has only been found on Lizard Island. Analysis of P. lizardensis led to the isolation of the new sesquiterpenes (+)-3beta-hydroxy-alpha-muurolene (1) and (+)-3beta-acetoxy-alpha-muurolene (2). GC-MS analysis of the host coral, identified as Heteroxenia sp., also showed the presence of compounds 1 and 2, whereas a sympatric Xenia species lacks these products. These results indicate that P. lizardensis specifically sequesters these compounds from Heteroxenia sp.