Microbial secondary metabolites: recent developments and technological challenges

Abstract Secondary metabolites multipotential organic compounds present in bacteria, fungi, or plants. These metabolites play an essential role in biotechnological and biomedical advances as they include broad range of antibiotics, antitumor agents, and several therapeutic compounds. Conventional biotechnology considered terrestrial plants as reservoir of secondary metabolites. But recent advancements in molecular and industrial biotechnology conferred the application of microbial metabolites in health and agriculture. The loss of biodiversity and impact of other environmental factors limits the use of plant-based metabolites. Extensive research on microbes has turned it into a significant subject for characterization of new organisms and their potential metabolites. Genetic engineering of microbes offers the advantage over conventional techniques, by enhancing the production with large-scale fermentation. The existence of microbes in diverse biological community and its metabolic versatility makes them economically significant in large-scale application. The ineffective genetic engineering strategies limits the application of several biotechniques. The present chapter outlines the recent advancements in exploring the metabolites of untapped microbial community and technological challenges in microbial biosynthesis and biosynthetic gene expression of various microorganisms form various habitats including endophytes, marine sources, extremophiles, etc.