Chemical Ecology of Monoenoic Fatty Acids in Aquatic Environments

Chemical Ecology of Monoenoic Fatty Acids in Aquatic Environments Review

Journal

Hydrobiology
ISSN: 2673-9917

Output data

Year: 2026, Volume: 5, Number: 1, Article number : 8, Pages count : DOI: 10.3390/hydrobiology5010008

Authors

Dembitsky Valery M. ^1,2 , Terent’ev Alexander O. ²

Affiliations

1	Bio-Pharm Laboratories, 23615 El Toro Rd X, Lake Forest, CA 92630, USA
2	N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 47 Leninsky Prospect, 119991 Moscow, Russia

Monoenoic fatty acids (MUFAs), defined by the presence of a single carbon–carbon double bond within a long aliphatic chain, constitute a structurally diverse and ecologically significant class of lipids widely distributed in aquatic organisms. In marine and freshwater environments, MUFAs are fundamental components of membrane phospholipids and storage lipids, where mono-unsaturation modulates melting point, lipid packing, and bilayer dynamics, enabling homeoviscous adaptation to fluctuations in temperature, pressure, salinity, and oxygen availability. Positional and geometric isomerism (e.g., cis-Δ5, Δ7, Δ9, Δ11, Δ13, and trans forms) further enhances biochemical diversity, providing sensitive chemotaxonomic markers and indicators of trophic transfer across food webs. In addition to common straight-chain monoenes, rare methyl-branched, cyclopropane-containing, and acetylenic derivatives occur in specialized aquatic taxa, reflecting evolutionary adaptation and ecological niche differentiation. Computational QSAR analyses suggest that monoenoic fatty acids and their unusual analogues occupy bioactivity spaces associated with lipid metabolism regulation, vascular and inflammatory modulation, antimicrobial defense, and membrane stabilization. This review integrates structural chemistry, biosynthesis, ecological distribution, trophic dynamics, and predicted biological activity of monoenoic fatty acids in aquatic systems, highlighting their dual role as adaptive membrane constituents and as biologically active mediators linking molecular lipid architecture to hydrobiological function and environmental change.

Dembitsky V.M. , Terent’ev A.O.
Chemical Ecology of Monoenoic Fatty Acids in Aquatic Environments
Hydrobiology. 2026. V.5. N1. 8 . DOI: 10.3390/hydrobiology5010008 OpenAlex

Submitted:	Feb 24, 2026
Published online:	Mar 18, 2026

≡ OpenAlex:

W7139045501