Natural Products from Deep-Sea-Derived Fungi - A New Source of Novel Bioactive Compounds?

Background: Over the last two decades, deep-sea-derived fungi are considered to be a new source of pharmacologically active secondary metabolites for drug discovery mainly based on the underlying assumption that the uniqueness of the deep sea will give rise to equally unprecedented natural products. Indeed, up to now over 200 new metabolites have been identified from deep-sea fungi, which is in support of the statement made above. Results: This review summarizes the new and/or bioactive compounds reported from deep-sea-derived fungi in the last six years (2010 - October 2016) and critically evaluates whether the data published so far really support the notion that these fungi are a promising source of new bioactive chemical entities.