Co-Cultivation—A Powerful Emerging Tool for Enhancing the Chemical Diversity of Microorganisms
Marine-derived bacteria and fungi are promising sources of novel bioactive compounds that are important for drug discovery programs. However, as encountered in terrestrial microorganisms there is a high rate of redundancy that results in the frequent re-discovery of known compounds. Apparently only...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2014-02-01
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| Series: | Marine Drugs |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/12/2/1043 |
| _version_ | 1798002455752998912 |
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| author | Andreas Marmann Amal H. Aly Wenhan Lin Bingui Wang Peter Proksch |
| author_facet | Andreas Marmann Amal H. Aly Wenhan Lin Bingui Wang Peter Proksch |
| author_sort | Andreas Marmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Marine-derived bacteria and fungi are promising sources of novel bioactive compounds that are important for drug discovery programs. However, as encountered in terrestrial microorganisms there is a high rate of redundancy that results in the frequent re-discovery of known compounds. Apparently only a part of the biosynthetic genes that are harbored by fungi and bacteria are transcribed under routine laboratory conditions which involve cultivation of axenic microbial strains. Many biosynthetic genes remain silent and are not expressed in vitro thereby seriously limiting the chemical diversity of microbial compounds that can be obtained through fermentation. In contrast to this, co-cultivation (also called mixed fermentation) of two or more different microorganisms tries to mimic the ecological situation where microorganisms always co-exist within complex microbial communities. The competition or antagonism experienced during co-cultivation is shown to lead to a significantly enhanced production of constitutively present compounds and/or to an accumulation of cryptic compounds that are not detected in axenic cultures of the producing strain. This review highlights the power of co-cultivation for increasing the chemical diversity of bacteria and fungi drawing on published studies from the marine and from the terrestrial habitat alike. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:52:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-db58ddf8bf00414babbe53c6352ea237 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1660-3397 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:52:30Z |
| publishDate | 2014-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Marine Drugs |
| spelling | doaj.art-db58ddf8bf00414babbe53c6352ea2372022-12-22T04:25:18ZengMDPI AGMarine Drugs1660-33972014-02-011221043106510.3390/md12021043md12021043Co-Cultivation—A Powerful Emerging Tool for Enhancing the Chemical Diversity of MicroorganismsAndreas Marmann0Amal H. Aly1Wenhan Lin2Bingui Wang3Peter Proksch4Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, Heinrich-Heine University, Universitaetsstrasse 1, Bldg. 26.23, Duesseldorf 40225, GermanyInstitute of Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, Heinrich-Heine University, Universitaetsstrasse 1, Bldg. 26.23, Duesseldorf 40225, GermanyState Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, ChinaKey Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanhai Road 7, Qingdao 266071, ChinaInstitute of Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, Heinrich-Heine University, Universitaetsstrasse 1, Bldg. 26.23, Duesseldorf 40225, GermanyMarine-derived bacteria and fungi are promising sources of novel bioactive compounds that are important for drug discovery programs. However, as encountered in terrestrial microorganisms there is a high rate of redundancy that results in the frequent re-discovery of known compounds. Apparently only a part of the biosynthetic genes that are harbored by fungi and bacteria are transcribed under routine laboratory conditions which involve cultivation of axenic microbial strains. Many biosynthetic genes remain silent and are not expressed in vitro thereby seriously limiting the chemical diversity of microbial compounds that can be obtained through fermentation. In contrast to this, co-cultivation (also called mixed fermentation) of two or more different microorganisms tries to mimic the ecological situation where microorganisms always co-exist within complex microbial communities. The competition or antagonism experienced during co-cultivation is shown to lead to a significantly enhanced production of constitutively present compounds and/or to an accumulation of cryptic compounds that are not detected in axenic cultures of the producing strain. This review highlights the power of co-cultivation for increasing the chemical diversity of bacteria and fungi drawing on published studies from the marine and from the terrestrial habitat alike.http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/12/2/1043marine-derived microorganismsco-cultivationmixed fermentationsilent genesnatural products |
| spellingShingle | Andreas Marmann Amal H. Aly Wenhan Lin Bingui Wang Peter Proksch Co-Cultivation—A Powerful Emerging Tool for Enhancing the Chemical Diversity of Microorganisms Marine Drugs marine-derived microorganisms co-cultivation mixed fermentation silent genes natural products |
| title | Co-Cultivation—A Powerful Emerging Tool for Enhancing the Chemical Diversity of Microorganisms |
| title_full | Co-Cultivation—A Powerful Emerging Tool for Enhancing the Chemical Diversity of Microorganisms |
| title_fullStr | Co-Cultivation—A Powerful Emerging Tool for Enhancing the Chemical Diversity of Microorganisms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Co-Cultivation—A Powerful Emerging Tool for Enhancing the Chemical Diversity of Microorganisms |
| title_short | Co-Cultivation—A Powerful Emerging Tool for Enhancing the Chemical Diversity of Microorganisms |
| title_sort | co cultivation a powerful emerging tool for enhancing the chemical diversity of microorganisms |
| topic | marine-derived microorganisms co-cultivation mixed fermentation silent genes natural products |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/12/2/1043 |
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