Cynthichlorine: a bioactive alkaloid from the tunicate Cynthia savignyi.

From ether extracts of the tunicate Cynthia savignyi, collected in Morocco, a new alkaloid-cynthichlorine-has been isolated. The structure of cynthichlorine has been characterized by extensive 2D-NMR data. Cynthichlorine possesses antifungal activity against two tomato pathogenic fungi: Botrytis cinerea and Verticillium albo atrum and antibacterial activity against Agrobacterium radiobacter, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and cytotoxicity against Artemia salina larvae.