Abstract
Filamentous fungi are well known for their capability of producing antibiotic natural products. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of antimicrobials with vast chemodiversity from marine fungi. Development of such natural products into lead compounds requires sustainable supply. Marine biotechnology can significantly contribute to the production of new antibiotics at various levels of the process chain including discovery, production, downstream processing, and lead development. However, the number of biotechnological processes described for large-scale production from marine fungi is far from the sum of the newly-discovered natural antibiotics. Methods and technologies applied in marine fungal biotechnology largely derive from analogous terrestrial processes and rarely reflect the specific demands of the marine fungi. The current developments in metabolic engineering and marine microbiology are not yet transferred into processes, but offer numerous options for improvement of production processes and establishment of new process chains. This review summarises the current state in biotechnological production of marine fungal antibiotics and points out the enormous potential of biotechnology in all stages of the discovery-to-development pipeline. At the same time, the literature survey reveals that more biotechnology transfer and method developments are needed for a sustainable and innovative production of marine fungal antibiotics.
Highlights
GEOMAR Centre for Marine Biotechnology (GEOMAR-Biotech), Am Kiel-Kanal 44, Kiel 24106, Germany; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Kiel, Christian-Albrechts-Platz 4, Academic Editors: Samuel Bertrand and Olivier Grovel
Ever since the development of penicillin in 1940s that initiated the golden era of further natural antibiotics from Streptomyces species, we have benefited from antibiotics from diverse chemical classes against pathogenic bacteria [1]
We report on the biotechnological approaches using marine fungi for the production of new antibiotics
Summary
Fleming opened up a completely new era of chemotherapy, thereby changing the quality of human life. More than 350 agents so far have reached the world market as antimicrobials [2] They include natural products, semi-synthetic antibiotics and synthetic chemicals [2,3]. Further measures and strategies are urgently needed worldwide to tackle the drug resistance and promote research in antibiotic drug discovery, including those from natural sources [7]. 20% by filamentous fungi [8] Still, this possibly only represents a small portion of the repertoire of microbial bioactive compounds, as drug discovery efforts often involve a specific focus, either on taxonomic groups or on habitats. We report on the biotechnological approaches using marine fungi for the production of new antibiotics
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