Exploiting and expanding actinomycete diversity for antibiotic discovery

Abstract

Actinomycetes are soil microbes well known for their ability to produce a wide variety of bioactive compounds, including antibacterial, antifungal, antitumour and immunosuppressants agents. Close to 50% of the known microbial products are produced by actinomycetes. In particular, the discovery, development and clinical use of antibiotics has been one of the most significant medical advances in the 20th century, and antibiotics are probably the most prescribed class of drugs. However, the effectiveness of many antibiotics has been severely diminished by the insurgence and spreading of many antibiotic-resistant pathogens, with the consequent need for novel and better antibiotics.