Chemical prospection on the Antarctic moss Sanionia uncinata (Hedw.) Loeske, Amblystegiaceae and its relationship with biological activity and the altitude. A pilot study.

Twenty-four ethanolic extracts obtained from the Antarctic sickle-leaved-hook-moss Sanionia uncinata were tested for their chemical profile by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, revealing the presence of fatty acids and their metabolites, diterpene, triterpene, and four steroids. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated a significant correlation between the metabolite content and biological activities as antibacterial, β-carotene and diphenyl-picryl-hydrazyl DPPH antioxidant, cytotoxicity to breast and prostate cancer cell lines, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, and the principal component analysis (PCA) showed a variation in the metabolite content according to the altitude from which the mosses' samples were collected, indicating that the altitude of 30 m was determinant for the metabolite variation in S. uncinata. The present findings constitute a pilot study supporting further plant prospection in the maritime Antarctica.