Recent methods for discovering novel bioactive metabolites, specifically antimicrobial agents, from marine-associated...

Marine micro-organisms are a promising source for novel natural compounds with many medical and biotechnological applications. Here, we demonstrate limitations and recent strategies for investigating the marine microbial community for novel bioactive metabolites, specifically those of antimicrobial potential. These strategies include culture-dependent methods such as modifying the standard culture media, including changing the gelling agent, dissolving vehicle, media supplementation and preparation to access a broader range of bacterial diversity from marine samples. Furthermore, we discuss strategies such as in situ cultivation, dilution-to-extinction cultivation and long-term incubation. We are presenting recent applications of culture-independent methods such as genome mining, proteomics profiling and the application of metagenomics as a novel strategy for structure confirmation in the discovery of the marine micro-organism for novel antimicrobial metabolites. We present this review as a simple guide and a helpful resource for those who seek to enter the challenging field of applied marine microbiology.