Trends in metabolite discovery from Actinomycetes

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Natural Product Chemistry
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Actinomycetes are prolific producers of diverse natural products.
• Specialized metabolites from Actinomycetes hold significant potential for drug discovery.
• Understanding discovery trends is crucial for optimizing natural product research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and analyze novel specialized metabolites reported from Actinomycetes between 2013 and 2023.
• To categorize discovered metabolites based on chemical originality and discovery approaches.
• To identify trends in metabolite discovery, including approach utility and originality frequency.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of scientific publications from 2013-2023.
• Categorization of novel metabolites into known variants or original compounds.
• Classification of discovery approaches: bioassay-based screening, genome mining, metabolome mining, and combinations.
• Analysis of discovery trends, metabolite originality, and major biosynthetic classes.

Main Results:

• Actinomycetes continue to yield new specialized metabolites at a consistent rate.
• The frequency of discovering original metabolites remained relatively constant across the study period.
• Discovery approach did not significantly influence the frequency of original metabolite identification.
• Major biosynthetic classes of Actinomycetes metabolites were identified and analyzed.

Conclusions:

• Novel specialized metabolites are continuously discovered from Actinomycetes.
• The rate of discovery and the proportion of original metabolites are stable.
• Current discovery methodologies are effective, yielding a consistent output of novel chemical entities.
• Further research into Actinomycetes metabolites remains a promising avenue for natural product discovery.