The first antibiotic, Salvarsan, was used in 1910. In just over 100 years, antibiotics have drastically changed modern medicine and extended the average human lifespan by 23 years[1]. Many antibiotics are derived from microbial metabolites, and the first microbial metabolite to be used as an antibiotic was penicillin. The discovery of penicillin led to the exploitation of microbial secondary metabolites, which revolutionized the field of microbiology.
At present, about 6000 antibiotics have been identified, of which about 4000 are from actinomycetes. In the prokaryotic group, unicellular bacteria Bacillus and Pseudomonas species are the most common antibiotic producers. Similarly, in eukaryotes, fungi are the dominant antibiotic producers. In recent years, myxobacteria and cyanobacteria species have joined these distinguished organisms as antibiotic producers. The clinical application of antibiotics is arguably the greatest medical breakthrough of the 20th century. The breakthrough cannot be separated from the discovery and research of metabolites.
Applications
The following are several common antibiotics derived from microbial metabolites.
β-Lactams
The best known antibiotics are β-lactams, such as penicillin. β-lactams are produced by fungi. Some β-lactam-based compounds have antitumor prodrug activity. β-Lactams also considered as prodrugs that can target tumor cells. They also can induce apoptosis by the derivative of β-lactams[2].
Prodigines
Prodigines are red tripyrole antibiotics containing a pyrrole-pyrromethane skeleton. They are produced by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In addition to the antibacterial activity, prodigines also have antifungal, antiprotozoal, immunosuppressive, anticancer and antimalarial activities.
Polyenes
Polyenes are derived from Streptomyces bacteria. They can cause permeability changes in sensitive organisms, leading to the loss of essential cytoplasmic components and ultimately cell death. Polyenes have a variety of functions in medicine. For example, to alleviate the suffering of patients by inhibiting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication.
Aminoglycosides
Aminoglycosides are derived from actinomycetes. They are also called bactericidal antibiotics because they can kill bacteria directly. They accomplish this by preventing bacteria from producing proteins that they need to survive. Aminoglycosides are normally used to treat serious infections, such as eye infections and ear infections.
What Can We Do?
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References
- Hutchings, M.; et al. Antibiotics: past, present and future. Current Opinion in Microbiology. 2019, 51: 72-80.
- Vaishnav, P.; Demain, A.L. Unexpected applications of secondary metabolites. Biotechnology Advances. 2010, 29: 223-229.
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