Genome mining for bioactive compounds
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| Abstract |
Coral reef environments are a rich source of biologically active natural products. However, due to their vulnerable nature and stringent environmental laws, it is always difficult to explore such environments physically. With the advent of molecular biology, many new strategies have evolved for the discovery of novel natural bioproducts from sensitive marine environments. Analyses of plant and microbial genome sequences have revealed many genes and gene clusters encoding proteins similar to those known to be involved in the biosynthesis of structurally complex natural products. The concept of genome mining evolved from this concept, where large-scale deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA ) sequencing approaches have been used. Basically, this strategy involves two approaches: sequence-based metagenomics and functional metagenomics. Although many breakthroughs have been achieved, presently, the global pharmaceutical pipeline consists of few approved drugs and a large number of marine chemicals in different stages of preclinical trials. It is anticipated that with the advent of new molecular techniques, the metagenomics approach will be more useful for the discovery of natural bioactive compounds. In the present chapter, an attempt has been made to gather detailed information on the present status of coral-derived bioactive compounds and on the reasons for momentary halt in biodiscovery of marine natural products, and to outline future prospects of research on marine/coral associated bioactive compounds. |
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