Abstract
Recently, there is an urgent need for new drugs due to the emergence of drug resistant pathogenic microorganisms and new infectious diseases. Members of phylum Actinobacteria are promising source of bioactive compounds notably antibiotics. The search for such new compounds has shifted to extreme or underexplored environments to increase the possibility of discovery. Cave ecosystems have attracted interest of the research community because of their unique characteristics and the microbiome residing inside including actinobacteria. At the time of writing, 47 species in 30 genera of actinobacteria were reported from cave and cave related habitats. Novel and promising bioactive compounds have been isolated and characterized. This mini-review focuses on the diversity of cultivable actinobacteria in cave and cave-related environments, and their bioactive metabolites from 1999 to 2018.
Highlights
Caves are generally regarded as any natural underground chamber that is large enough for human entrance
Cave and karst environments are underexplored microbiologically and should not be overlooked for the search and discovery of novel actinobacteria and their chemical diversity of useful compounds. It is evident from this mini-review that cave environments harbor novel and diverse actinobacteria (Table 1)
The first area of research should deal with the ability to isolate and cultivate actinobacteria of interest
Summary
Caves are generally regarded as any natural underground chamber that is large enough for human entrance. Four incubation temperatures (5◦, 13◦, 20◦, and 28◦C) were used for the isolation of soil bacteria including actinobacteria from three caves in Northern Spain (Laiz et al, 2003). Cervimycin A, B, C, and D were produced from Streptomyces tendae strain HKI 0179, isolated from a rock wall in an ancient cave, the Grotta dei Cervi in Italy.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
