Enhancement of undecylprodigiosin production from marine endophytic recombinant strain Streptomyces sp. ALAA-R20 through low-cost induction strategy

Blue Biotechnology: Marine Bacteria Bioproducts

The ocean is the habitat of a great number of organisms with different characteristics. Compared to terrestrial microorganisms, marine microorganisms also represent a vast and largely unexplored reservoir of bioactive compounds with diverse industrial applications like terrestrial microorganisms. This review examines the properties and potential applications of products derived from marine microorganisms, including bacteriocins, enzymes, exopolysaccharides, and pigments, juxtaposing them in some cases against their terrestrial counterparts. We discuss the distinct characteristics that set marine-derived products apart, including enhanced stability and unique structural features such as the amount of uronic acid and sulfate groups in exopolysaccharides. Further, we explore the uses of these marine-derived compounds across various industries, ranging from food and pharmaceuticals to cosmetics and biotechnology. This review also presents a broad description of biotechnologically important compounds produced by bacteria isolated from marine environments, some of them with different qualities compared to their terrestrial counterparts.

Antimicrobial Natural Products Derived from Microorganisms Inhabiting the MENA Region

Objective/Background

Natural products (NPs) derived from microorganisms are the basis of a plethora of clinically utilized medications, namely, antimicrobial remedies. Although these secondary metabolites have been extensively explored all over the planet, they remain understudied in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Methods

A literature search was conducted to first find NPs that were isolated from environmental fungi and bacteria that inhabit the soils and seawater of the MENA region. Then, purified molecules with biological activity against pathogenic bacteria, biofilms, fungi, and parasites were described in terms of structure, function, and location. Moreover, the methods that could be used to ameliorate the discovery of novel NPs from this region were investigated.

Results

A multitude of antimicrobial molecules from various chemical classes were found to be derived from the environmental microbes of MENA. Although many were rediscovered, some represented novel structural scaffolds for novel families of antimicrobial agents. Additionally, the geographical distribution showed a high number of these NPs were unraveled in a restricted area leaving much of MENA untapped. Furthermore, as relatively traditional and low-efficiency methods were typically used in the discovery process, advanced high-throughput techniques were suggested to enhance this practice at the regional level.

Conclusion

MENA represents a fairly unexploited region where antimicrobial drug discovery could be performed comprehensively through the concomitant exploration of untouched geographical locations and advanced molecular techniques.

Phytochemical Screening, Antifungal, and Anticancer Activities of Medicinal Plants Thymelaea Hirsuta, Urginea Maritima, and Plantago Albicans

Ethyl acetate, ethanol, and acetone extracts of the medicinal plants Thymelaea hirsuta L., Urginea maritima L., and Plantago albicans L. (aerial parts) were evaluated for their phytochemical compositions, antimycotic activity against dermatophytes, and antiproliferative activity against different human cancer cell lines. Among them, the ethanolic extracts showed the highest phytochemical contents along with hyperactivities and were then selected for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis confirmed the presence of different characteristic peak values with various functional chemical groups of the active components. However, U. maritima extracts through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed distinctive peaks related to phenolic, amines, amides, aromatic, alkanes, alkyne, cyclopentanone, conjugated aldehyde, nitro, methoxy, uronic acids, aromatic esters, tertiary alcohol or ester, secondary and primary alcohols, aliphatic ether, sulfoxide, vinylidene, and halo compounds. Many bioactive main compounds with reported biological activities were detected by GC/MS (%) in the ethanolic extract of T. hirsuta, U. maritima, and P. albicans. All studied dermatophytes included a diverse set of virulence factors, including phospholipase, protease, keratinase, hemolysis, and melanoid production, all of which play vital roles in dermatophytic infection. Ethanolic extract of P. albicans inhibited the growth of Trichophyton soudanense totally and Trichophyton erinacei in addition to all Microsporum species. In contrast, the ethanolic extract of Trichophyton hirsuta at concentrations of 25 g/mL totally prevented the growth of all Trichophyton species. EtOH extract of U. maritima completely prevented the growth (100% inhibition) of all dermatophytic strains under study at the lowest concentration of 12.5 μg/mL. Scanning electron microscope analysis revealed considerable morphological modifications and structural alterations in dermatophyte species exposed to ethanolic extract of these plants. The viability of HCT-116, HepG-2, MCF-7, and HeLa cell lines was reduced after treatment with the ethanolic extracts of T. hirsuta, U. maritima, and P. albicans individually with IC50 values (10.0, 9.97, 48.5, and 56.24 μg/mL), (26.98, 25.0, 17.11, and 9.52 μg/mL), and (9.32, 7.46, 12.50, and 16.32 μg/mL), respectively. Our work revealed the significance of these traditional ethnomedical plants as potent sources for biologically active pharmaceuticals with potential applicability for the treatment of fungal and cancer diseases.

Assessment of the phylogenetic analysis and antimicrobial, antiviral, and anticancer activities of marine endophytic Streptomyces species of the soft coral Sarcophyton convolutum

In the present work, the extensive biological activities of marine endophytic Streptomyces strains isolated from marine soft coral Sarcophyton convolutum have been demonstrated. Within fifty-one Streptomyces isolates evaluated for their hydrolytic enzymes and enzyme inhibitors productivities, six isolates showed the hyperactivities. Pharmaceutical metabolites productivities evaluated include enzymes (alkaline protease, L-asparaginase, L-glutaminase, tyrosinase, and L-methioninase) and enzyme inhibitors (inhibitors of α-amylase, hyaluronidase, β-lactamase, α-glucosidase, and β-glucosidase). These isolates were identified based on their morphological, biochemical, and genetic characteristics as Streptomyces sp. MORSY 17, Streptomyces sp. MORSY 22, Streptomyces sp. MORSY 25, Streptomyces sp. MORSY 36, Streptomyces sp. MORSY 45, and Streptomyces sp. MORSY 50. Moreover, in further evaluation, these strains exhibited wide spectrum of antimicrobial (against bacteria and fungi), antiviral (against hepatitis C virus), antibiofilm against biofilm-forming bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas species), and anti-proliferative activities (against liver and colon carcinoma cell lines). The GC-MS analysis of the hyperactive strains MORSY 17 and MORSY 22 revealed the presence of different bioactive agents in the ethyl acetate extract of both strains.