Microbial Bioactives
Microbial Bioactives | Online ISSN 2209-2161
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Volume 9 Number 1 2026
REVIEWS (Open Access)
Marine Microbial Natural Products as a Frontier in Drug Discovery: A Systematic Review
Zainab Nur-Eldeen Aziz 1*, Basil O. Saleh 1
Microbial Bioactives 9 (1) 1-8 https://doi.org/10.25163/microbbioacts.9110625
Submitted: 19 January 2026 Revised: 11 March 2026 Accepted: 21 March 2026 Published: 23 March 2026
Abstract
The rising prevalence of drug-resistant pathogens and emerging infectious diseases poses a critical threat to global public health, necessitating the discovery of novel therapeutics. Marine microbial natural products (MMNPs) represent a largely untapped reservoir of structurally unique bioactive compounds with diverse pharmacological activities. Historically, terrestrial microorganisms have been the primary source of natural products; however, the rate of discovering novel scaffolds from soil-derived microbes has declined over the past decades. In contrast, the marine environment, encompassing over 95% of the Earth’s biosphere, harbors an immense diversity of bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, cyanobacteria, microalgae, and symbiotic microbes capable of producing specialized metabolites with anti-tumor, anti-cancer, antimicrobial, antifouling, and immunomodulatory properties. More than 15,000 structurally diverse compounds have been identified from marine microbes since the 1970s, with over 30 currently undergoing clinical or preclinical evaluation. Despite this promise, a significant portion of marine microbes remains unculturable under standard laboratory conditions, limiting access to their full chemical potential. Advances in genomics, metagenomics, combinatorial biosynthesis, and synthetic biology have enabled the identification and production of previously inaccessible compounds, offering innovative avenues for drug discovery. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesize current evidence on MMNPs, highlighting their sources, chemical diversity, biological activities, clinical progress, and technological strategies to overcome cultivation challenges. The study emphasizes the untapped potential of marine microbes to yield novel lead compounds capable of addressing urgent medical needs and combating antimicrobial resistance.
Keywords: Marine microbes, natural products, bioactive compounds, antimicrobial resistance, drug discovery, marine-derived therapeutics
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