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Extremophiles : A promising source of novel natural products

Hatti-Kaul, Rajni LU and Abouhmad, Adel LU (2020) In Life in Extreme Environments 6. p.1-42
Abstract
Extremophiles, the microorganisms inhabiting different extreme environments char-acterized by high or low temperature, high or low pH, high salt concentration, high pressure, high radiation, etc. or combinations thereof, have developed unique strate-gies for adapting and thriving in such environments. Studies on extremophiles have been pursued with great interest to determine the mechanisms of adaptation and also as an important source of useful products including enzymes, polymers, com-patible solutes, etc. During the last 20–30 years, attention has been directed toward search for novel bioactive compounds produced by extremophiles, which most likely are playing a role in controlling microbial population in ... (More)
Extremophiles, the microorganisms inhabiting different extreme environments char-acterized by high or low temperature, high or low pH, high salt concentration, high pressure, high radiation, etc. or combinations thereof, have developed unique strate-gies for adapting and thriving in such environments. Studies on extremophiles have been pursued with great interest to determine the mechanisms of adaptation and also as an important source of useful products including enzymes, polymers, com-patible solutes, etc. During the last 20–30 years, attention has been directed toward search for novel bioactive compounds produced by extremophiles, which most likely are playing a role in controlling microbial population in the respective ecological niches and are also promising candidates for applications in foods and healthcare. Secondary metabolites produced by microbes have long been a major source of natural products for drug development. Toward the end of the last century, however, high rates of rediscovery of bioactive products from nature prompted a shift to high-throughput screening programs based on molecular targets and combinatorial chemistry, which has unfortunately not led to major discoveries of novel products, and the trend is now to build focused libraries around the chemical scaffolds of natural products. An urgent need for new molecules that could potentially replace the present-day antibiotics, which are becoming ineffective due to the resistance devel-oped by the pathogens, has served as an important driver for the increasing efforts on mining the unexplored ecological niches for bioactive compounds. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Biotechnological Applications of Extremophilic Microorganisms
series title
Life in Extreme Environments
editor
Lee, Natuschka M.
volume
6
pages
1 - 42
publisher
De Gruyter
external identifiers
  • scopus:85139986513
ISSN
2197-9227
2197-9235
ISBN
9783110427738
9783110424331
DOI
10.1515/9783110424331-001
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
68600f20-2cad-4b9f-87ad-c1fc0ae1e139
date added to LUP
2022-02-28 12:54:53
date last changed
2025-07-12 01:57:47
@inbook{68600f20-2cad-4b9f-87ad-c1fc0ae1e139,
  abstract     = {{Extremophiles, the microorganisms inhabiting different extreme environments char-acterized by high or low temperature, high or low pH, high salt concentration, high pressure, high radiation, etc. or combinations thereof, have developed unique strate-gies for adapting and thriving in such environments. Studies on extremophiles have been  pursued  with  great  interest  to  determine  the  mechanisms  of  adaptation  and  also  as  an  important  source  of  useful  products  including  enzymes,  polymers,  com-patible solutes, etc. During the last 20–30 years, attention has been directed toward search for novel bioactive compounds produced by extremophiles, which most likely are  playing  a  role  in  controlling  microbial  population  in  the  respective  ecological  niches  and  are  also  promising  candidates  for  applications  in  foods  and  healthcare.  Secondary  metabolites  produced  by  microbes  have  long  been  a  major  source  of  natural products for drug development. Toward the end of the last century, however, high  rates  of  rediscovery  of  bioactive  products  from  nature  prompted  a  shift  to  high-throughput screening programs based on molecular targets and combinatorial chemistry,  which  has  unfortunately  not  led  to  major  discoveries  of  novel  products,  and  the  trend  is  now  to  build  focused  libraries  around  the  chemical  scaffolds  of  natural products. An urgent need for new molecules that could potentially replace the present-day  antibiotics,  which  are  becoming  ineffective  due  to  the  resistance  devel-oped by the pathogens, has served as an important driver for the increasing efforts on mining the unexplored ecological niches for bioactive compounds.}},
  author       = {{Hatti-Kaul, Rajni and Abouhmad, Adel}},
  booktitle    = {{Biotechnological Applications of Extremophilic Microorganisms}},
  editor       = {{Lee, Natuschka M.}},
  isbn         = {{9783110427738}},
  issn         = {{2197-9227}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  pages        = {{1--42}},
  publisher    = {{De Gruyter}},
  series       = {{Life in Extreme Environments}},
  title        = {{Extremophiles : A promising source of novel natural products}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110424331-001}},
  doi          = {{10.1515/9783110424331-001}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}