Cryptic Metabolites from Marine-Derived Microorganisms Using OSMAC and Epigenetic Approaches

Area of Science:

• Marine microbiology and natural product discovery.
• Genomics and biosynthetic gene cluster analysis.
• Chemical biology and drug discovery.

Background:

• Marine microorganisms are rich sources of diverse natural products with significant industrial applications.
• A gap exists between potential natural product gene clusters in sequenced genomes and characterized metabolites.
• Many biosynthetic gene clusters remain silent under standard laboratory conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review new cryptic metabolites from marine microorganisms.
• To highlight strategies for activating silent biosynthetic gene clusters.
• To discuss the structures and biological activities of discovered compounds.

Main Methods:

• Review of literature on marine natural product discovery up to June 2021.
• Focus on the one strain-many compounds (OSMAC) approach.
• Inclusion of methods involving chemical elicitors, enzymatic inhibitors, and epigenetic modifiers.

Main Results:

• The OSMAC approach is effective in discovering cryptic natural products.
• Chemical elicitors and epigenetic modifiers successfully activate silent genes.
• Numerous new metabolites with diverse biological activities have been identified.

Conclusions:

• Marine-derived microorganisms harbor a wealth of undiscovered natural products.
• Cultivation-based strategies and chemical induction are crucial for accessing cryptic metabolites.
• These findings underscore the potential of marine natural products in medicine and biotechnology.