Abstract: Due to their special living environment,marine microbes have unique metabolic pathways and body defense mechanisms that can make them produce many compounds with special structures and remarkable bioactivity.Therefore,marine microbes are considered as the most promising drug source.The active substances derived from marine microorganisms mainly include alkaloids,macrolides,peptides,steroids,terpenes,polyketones,glycosides and the like.This article describes the bioactive steroidal compounds isolated from marine actinomycetes,marine fungi,marine bacteria,and marine microalgae.

Key words: marine microbes, steroid, biological activity, research progress