Fermentative production of alternative antimicrobial peptides and enzymes

Abstract Conventional broad-spectrum antibiotics synthesized through microbial secondary metabolism with non-degradable residues can often accumulate in the environments, lead to the selection of antibiotic resistance genes, and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. In the light of emergent antibiotic resistance, developing new antibacterial agents is essential. In recent decades, reported infections of hospital patients by superbugs, which are resistant to multiple types of antibiotics, have appeared life-threatening and untreatable. It has been more serious with ongoing increasing incidences of these infections. New alternative antimicrobial strategies are needed urgently more than ever. Among many diversified discoveries, seeking biodegradable antibacterial polypeptides/proteins/enzymes as alternative antimicrobial agents have drawn a great deal of attention and resulted many new publications in recent years. In this mini-review, we only focus on recent discoveries and development related to specific bacteriocins and endolysins that target on specific pathogens found in biorefinery and ag-related applications. We will discuss the use of genetic engineering technologies with different recombinant hosts to effectively produce selected antibacterial agents as well as fermentative productions and potential applications of the biodegradable antibacterial agents and emerging technologies.