About this Research Topic
Antibiotic-resistant microbes are regarded as one of the world's greatest threats today. Due to the growing number of infections caused by these bacterial pathogens, experts have estimated that more people will die from infectious diseases than cancer by 2050.
The plant kingdom contains over 422,000 plant species. Being sedentary and lacking an adaptive immune system, plants rely on defensive chemicals to fight pathogens and deter pathogenic microorganisms. Compared to synthetic organic small molecules, natural products have unique scaffolds and structural complexity that is not always readily attainable by synthesis. Only a small portion of the Globe’s natural biota has been chemically studied and tested pharmacologically, despite many anti-cancer and antibiotic agents being discovered from this resource. Consequently, natural products still represent an enormous reservoir of novel small molecules of privileged structures for the discovery of antimicrobial agents.
The prospect of novel antibiotics from marine sources is high. Marine organisms thrive successfully despite harsh stress factors (such as heavy predation, fouling of neighbouring sites, physical stress factors e.g., changing salinity) as their biological capability is closely linked to their chemical adaptation, which makes them highly interesting candidates for bioprospecting. A fair number of these compounds owe their existence to environmental pressures and score as “hits” in antimicrobial driven bioassays thereby making these secondary metabolites interesting candidates for drug discovery. It has been shown that marine organisms thrive despite pronounced biotic pressures through their arsenal of chemical defence, thereby providing a link between chemical ecology and pharmacology.
An approach for solving the supply problem inherent to marine natural products derived from macroorganisms, is the isolation and fermentation of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and microalgae) that are in many cases suspected to be involved in the biosynthesis of bioactive natural products recovered from macroorganisms. Many marine invertebrates are filter feeders and consume microorganisms from the inhaled sea water by phagocytosis. In addition, marine invertebrates are known to harbour microorganisms that include bacteria, cyanobacteria and fungi within their tissues, where they may reside in the extra- and even intracellular space. The sea holds a diversity of macroorganisms but contains an even more impressive arsenal of microorganisms such as bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi and others. Marine microorganisms are now considered to be the true producers of bioactive constituents that are recovered from sponges, mollusks and other invertebrates. The diversity and the sheer number of marine derived microorganisms is impressive. For bacteria alone, the oceans are known to contain an average of 105 -106 bacteria/mL of sea water. This amounts to an estimated weight of 1012 tons of bacteria that live in the world´s oceans. The immense biodiversity apparent in the marine environment is a potentially rich source of novel antibiotics. Because of the growth in antibiotic resistance, there is a pressing need for novel products, particularly with new mechanisms of action – only two completely new classes of antibiotics have been introduced in the last 30 years. By accessing unique sources of small molecules that are likely to have unusual chemical features, the marine environment is well positioned to be a good source of new leads for valuable novel antibiotics with unique chemistry/potent antibiotic activity.
With this research topic in mind, we will highlight the latest advances in research related to the antimicrobial properties of natural products.
We welcome submissions that describe current trends and recent advances in discovering novel antimicrobial natural products. These include original research, reviews, mini-reviews, brief research reports and articles describing clinical research on the antimicrobial properties of extracts, fractions, purified compounds, herbal products and synergistic mixtures against microorganisms encountered in human infectious diseases. In this research topic, we also encourage submissions related to the identification of new antimicrobials using novel drug discovery technologies.
Important Note: All contributions to this research topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of the peer review process.
The plant kingdom contains over 422,000 plant species. Being sedentary and lacking an adaptive immune system, plants rely on defensive chemicals to fight pathogens and deter pathogenic microorganisms. Compared to synthetic organic small molecules, natural products have unique scaffolds and structural complexity that is not always readily attainable by synthesis. Only a small portion of the Globe’s natural biota has been chemically studied and tested pharmacologically, despite many anti-cancer and antibiotic agents being discovered from this resource. Consequently, natural products still represent an enormous reservoir of novel small molecules of privileged structures for the discovery of antimicrobial agents.
The prospect of novel antibiotics from marine sources is high. Marine organisms thrive successfully despite harsh stress factors (such as heavy predation, fouling of neighbouring sites, physical stress factors e.g., changing salinity) as their biological capability is closely linked to their chemical adaptation, which makes them highly interesting candidates for bioprospecting. A fair number of these compounds owe their existence to environmental pressures and score as “hits” in antimicrobial driven bioassays thereby making these secondary metabolites interesting candidates for drug discovery. It has been shown that marine organisms thrive despite pronounced biotic pressures through their arsenal of chemical defence, thereby providing a link between chemical ecology and pharmacology.
An approach for solving the supply problem inherent to marine natural products derived from macroorganisms, is the isolation and fermentation of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and microalgae) that are in many cases suspected to be involved in the biosynthesis of bioactive natural products recovered from macroorganisms. Many marine invertebrates are filter feeders and consume microorganisms from the inhaled sea water by phagocytosis. In addition, marine invertebrates are known to harbour microorganisms that include bacteria, cyanobacteria and fungi within their tissues, where they may reside in the extra- and even intracellular space. The sea holds a diversity of macroorganisms but contains an even more impressive arsenal of microorganisms such as bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi and others. Marine microorganisms are now considered to be the true producers of bioactive constituents that are recovered from sponges, mollusks and other invertebrates. The diversity and the sheer number of marine derived microorganisms is impressive. For bacteria alone, the oceans are known to contain an average of 105 -106 bacteria/mL of sea water. This amounts to an estimated weight of 1012 tons of bacteria that live in the world´s oceans. The immense biodiversity apparent in the marine environment is a potentially rich source of novel antibiotics. Because of the growth in antibiotic resistance, there is a pressing need for novel products, particularly with new mechanisms of action – only two completely new classes of antibiotics have been introduced in the last 30 years. By accessing unique sources of small molecules that are likely to have unusual chemical features, the marine environment is well positioned to be a good source of new leads for valuable novel antibiotics with unique chemistry/potent antibiotic activity.
With this research topic in mind, we will highlight the latest advances in research related to the antimicrobial properties of natural products.
We welcome submissions that describe current trends and recent advances in discovering novel antimicrobial natural products. These include original research, reviews, mini-reviews, brief research reports and articles describing clinical research on the antimicrobial properties of extracts, fractions, purified compounds, herbal products and synergistic mixtures against microorganisms encountered in human infectious diseases. In this research topic, we also encourage submissions related to the identification of new antimicrobials using novel drug discovery technologies.
Important Note: All contributions to this research topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of the peer review process.
Keywords: Natural products, Antibacterials, Antimycobacterials, Small Molecules, Phenotypic Screening, Molecular Docking Simulations, Artificial Intelligence
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
