The first contribution reviews the phytochemical, chemical,and biological literature on members of the ingenane class of diterpenoids fromtheir first isolation in 1968 through 2015, highlighting unresolved issues bothcommon to phorboids and specific to ingenol derivatives. The biogenesis of ingenol is discussed in thelight of the Jakupovic proposal of a dissection between the formation of the macrocyclicEuphorbia diterpenoids and the phorboids,and the clinical development of ingenol mebutate is chronicled in the light ofits “reverse-pharmacology” focus.
The second contributionoffers a comprehensive view of the chemical wealth and the taxonomic problemscurrently impeding chemical and biological investigations of the genus Laurencia. It addresses the botanical description and the growth andpopulation dynamics of the genus, as well as its chemical diversity and ecologicalrelations; the secondary metabolites as well as their sources of isolation; and finally the biological activity.