ORIGINAL ARTICLE Anti-microfouling Activity of Lipidic Metabolites from the Invasive Brown Alga Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt Erwan Plouguerné & Efstathia Ioannou & Panagiota Georgantea & Constantinos Vagias & Vassilios Roussis & Claire Hellio & Edouard Kraffe & Valérie Stiger-Pouvreau Received: 26 March 2009 / Accepted: 2 May 2009 / Published online: 26 May 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract The purification of the chloroform extract from the brown invasive macroalga Sargassum muticum, through a series of chromatographic separations, yielded 12 frac- tions that were tested against strains of bacteria, microalgae, and fungi involved in marine biofilm formation. The chemical composition of four (a, c, g, and k) out of the six fractions that exhibited anti-microfouling activity was investigated. Fraction a contained saturated and unsaturated linear hydrocarbons (C 12 –C 27 ). Arachidonic acid was identified as the major metabolite in fraction c whereas fraction g contained mainly palmitic, linolenic, and palmi- toleic acids. Fraction k was submitted to further purification yielding the fraction kAcaF1e that was composed of galactoglycerolipids, active against the growth of two of the four bacterial strains (Shewanella putrefaciens and Polaribacter irgensii) and all tested fungi. These promising results, in particular the isolation and the activity of galactoglycerolipids, attest the potential of the huge biomass of S. muticum as a source of new environmentally friendly antifouling compounds. Keywords Antifouling . Biofilms . Sargassum muticum . Anti-microfouling . Fatty acids . Galactoglycerolipids Introduction Any unprotected surface immersed in water will face an undesirable accumulation of microorganisms, plants, and animals. This phenomenon is called biological fouling or more commonly biofouling (Yebra et al. 2004) and is responsible for many adverse effects especially in the shipping (Beech 1999; Beech and Sunner 2004) and aquaculture enterprises (Braithwaite and McEvoy 2005). Among the different solutions tried throughout the maritime history, tributyltin self-polishing copolymer paints (TBT- SPC paints) have been the most successful in combating biofouling (Yebra et al. 2004). The side effects of TBT were studied thoroughly when antifouling (AF) paints were correlated to the worldwide decline of marine molluscs in coastal areas (Blaber 1970; Smith 1981). The toxicity and environmental impact of the TBT-based paints led to the enforcement of strict laws for the protection of marine and freshwater ecosystems and triggered a scientific race for a more efficient compound (Antizar-Ladislao 2008). As a Mar Biotechnol (2010) 12:52–61 DOI 10.1007/s10126-009-9199-9 E. Plouguerné (*) : V. Stiger-Pouvreau Université Européenne de Bretagne, Université de Brest, EA LEBHAM 3877, European Institute for Marine Sciences (IUEM), Place N. Copernic, 29280 Plouzané, France e-mail: eplouguerne@hotmail.com E. Ioannou : P. Georgantea : C. Vagias : V. Roussis Department of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece C. Hellio School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, England E. Kraffe UMR CNRS 6521, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CS 3837, Brest 29238, France Present Address: E. Plouguerné Laboratório de Produtos Naturais e Ecologia Química Marinha, Departamento de Biologia Marinha, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24001-970, Brazil