Microbial Bioactives
Microbial Bioactives | Online ISSN 2209-2161
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Volume 6 Number 1 2023
REVIEWS (Open Access)
Ecological Hotspots and Hidden Microbial Diversity Driving Next-Generation Antibiotic Discovery in the Era of Antimicrobial Resistance
Wan Nur Ismah Wan Ahmad Kamil 1*
Microbial Bioactives 6 (1) 1-13 https://doi.org/10.25163/microbbioacts.6110667
Submitted: 13 November 2022 Revised: 15 January 2023 Accepted: 25 January 2023 Published: 27 January 2023
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has, perhaps more quietly than expected, shifted from a manageable clinical concern to something far more systemic and difficult to contain. The slowdown in antibiotic discovery—largely shaped by the repeated rediscovery of known compounds from traditional soil sources—has only deepened this concern. In response, research has begun to look elsewhere, though not always with complete clarity on where the greatest promise lies. This systematic review brings together evidence from diverse ecological settings, including marine sediments, plant-associated microbiomes, rhizospheric soils, deep-sea sponges, and polar ecosystems, to examine patterns in antimicrobial bioactivity. What emerges is not a single dominant narrative, but a gradient: microbial communities from marine and symbiotic environments consistently demonstrate higher proportions of bioactive isolates compared to conventional terrestrial sources. Yet, these findings are accompanied by variability—sometimes subtle, sometimes substantial—driven by differences in sample size, methodology, and ecological context. At the same time, advances in genome mining, microfluidic screening, and metabolite dereplication suggest that discovery is no longer limited by cultivation alone, but increasingly shaped by technological integration. Still, the field remains uneven, and conclusions must be drawn with care. Taken together, the evidence points toward a shift—perhaps overdue—toward ecologically informed and methodologically integrated antibiotic discovery, where nature’s chemical diversity is explored not broadly, but strategically.
Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; antibiotic discovery; marine microbiomes; extreme environments; natural products; systematic review; biosynthetic potential
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