Marine actinomycetes: A promising source of novel therapeutics and pharmaceutical bioactive compounds – A review

Abstract

Marine actinomycetes serve as a rich source of bioactive compounds with significant therapeutic and pharmaceutical value. These organisms offer excellent opportunities for developing novel biologically active substances with unique and diverse chemical compositions, emphasizing their biological importance and the wide range of metabolites that have potential medical and industrial applications for humans. These metabolites include polypeptides, peptides, alkaloids, terpenes, fatty acids, and pigments, which demonstrate antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antiviral, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as enzymes and enzyme inhibitors. Marine actinomycetes possess vast potential for developing new compounds; they exhibit antagonistic properties against numerous pathogenic microorganisms, including multidrug-resistant bacteria. The discovery of these novel compounds has been instrumental in addressing global antimicrobial resistance. Pretreatment techniques, selective media, and antibiotics in enrichment culture effectively isolate new actinomycetes that produce various secondary metabolites. Recent molecular methods enhance the detection, identification, and analysis of their chemical composition and metabolites. Advances in sequencing, genomic mining, and bioinformatics have improved the taxonomic classification and species identification of actinomycetes through DNA isolation. Optimizing these approaches is crucial for advancing research, discovering new biologically active natural products, developing effective treatments, and tackling the growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance. This review emphasizes the potential of marine actinomycetes in developing novel therapeutics, their isolation and characterization, their role in discovering pharmaceutical bioactive compounds, combating antimicrobial resistance, and their critical contributions to modern medicine.