Microbial metabolites as potentially useful pharmacologically active agents

New applications of microbial products

Microbial secondary metabolites are now being used for applications other than as antibacterial, antifungal, and antitumor agents. These applications include use against parasites (coccidia, helminths) and insects as well as for animal and plant growth stimulation, immunosuppression, uterocontraction, and other pharmacological activities. Further applications are possible in various areas of pharmacology and agriculture, a development catalyzed by the use of simple enzyme assays for screening prior to testing in intact animals or in the field.

Industrial microbiology

Industrial microbiology has served humanity since prebiblical times, providing fermented beverages and foods to enhance the quality of life. The antibiotic era featured an explosion in the number of microbial products for medicine, nutrition, industry, and research. Revolutionary developments in molecular genetics are propelling the field into a new growth phase with promise of solutions to major world problems.

Natural products from microorganisms

Microorganisms are capable of producing natural products with widely divergent chemical structures. Greatest attention in the past has been paid to natural products that have antibiotic properties. Natural products accumulate in fermentation broths during secondary metabolism, a characteristic of the incomplete metabolic control operative in growth-inhibited microorganisms. With this general mechanism of biosynthesis, the natural products synthesized by microorganisms would be expected to have a broad range of pharmacological activities. The directed screening for non-antibiotic natural products has been of limited scope. The expectation that new compounds of interest would be found has been validated. The pharmacologically active natural products provide previously unrecognized structures as tools for fundamental research programs, as well as offering the possibility of direct use in medicine or in industrial processes.