Foreword

Frontiers in Antimicrobial Agents Vol. 3, Recent Advances in the Application of Marine Natural Products as Antimicrobial Agents, is an important book. The marine environment represents a unique resource that enfolds an enormous biological diversity ranging from viruses, single cells such as prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), fungi and algae; to higher plants, invertebrates and higher organisms such as mammals. This enormous, largely unexplored diversity has, in recent years, been mined for its potential as a source of unique biologically active chemical diversity that can be harnessed into novel biomedical applications. These natural compounds are defined as biologically active products such as secondary metabolites, enzymes, lipids, etc. Many of these compounds are produced by the oceans’ diverse microbial communities and are being exploited as important sources of bioactive and complex secondary metabolites with the potential to treat several diseases ranging from cancer to incurable antibiotic-resistant diseases. Some of these compounds can be used as antifoulants, preventing the settlement of unwanted organisms in the marine environment, and used in preventing biofilm formation in medical devices. The promise of such a wealth of novel compounds has led to a plethora of studies searching for novel compounds. Recently, novel antimicrobial agents have been isolated from bacteria or fungi found in the marine environment. Importantly, many of these compounds show clear promise in curing diseases that have, to date, been considered chronic and resistant. Indeed, recent publications have been emphasizing the role of marine microorganisms in the discovery of novel bioactive products, revealing that approximately 60% of these novel products come from marine bacteria. The new impetus for the study of these novel products has been advanced through the use of both cultures-dependent and independent methodologies, in particular on the novel and stronger molecular and analytical tools that have enabled the identification of new molecules with antimicrobial potentials. In addition, the use of new synthetic biology platforms enables researchers to mimic and develop less toxic derivatives of some of the novel materials discovered in the marine environment. These tools will greatly enlarge the repertoire of novel bioactive chemicals. This book provides an important compilation of studies revealing the potential of mining the ocean for novel bioactive compounds using the new tools available to us.