Emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology

© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI. The vast oceans of the world, which comprise a huge variety of unique ecosystems, are emerging as a rich and relatively untapped source of novel bioactive compounds with invaluable biotechnological and pharmaceutical potential. Evidence accumulated over the last...

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Main Authors: Reen, F., Gutiérrez-Barranquero, J., Dobson, A., Adams, C., O'Gara, Fergal
Format: Journal Article
Published: MDPI AG 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44117
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author Reen, F.
Gutiérrez-Barranquero, J.
Dobson, A.
Adams, C.
O'Gara, Fergal
author_facet Reen, F.
Gutiérrez-Barranquero, J.
Dobson, A.
Adams, C.
O'Gara, Fergal
author_sort Reen, F.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI. The vast oceans of the world, which comprise a huge variety of unique ecosystems, are emerging as a rich and relatively untapped source of novel bioactive compounds with invaluable biotechnological and pharmaceutical potential. Evidence accumulated over the last decade has revealed that the diversity of marine microorganisms is enormous with many thousands of bacterial species detected that were previously unknown. Associated with this diversity is the production of diverse repertoires of bioactive compounds ranging from peptides and enzymes to more complex secondary metabolites that have significant bioactivity and thus the potential to be exploited for innovative biotechnology. Here we review the discovery and functional potential of marine bioactive peptides such as lantibiotics, nanoantibiotics and peptidomimetics, which have received particular attention in recent years in light of their broad spectrum of bioactivity. The significance of marine peptides in cell-to-cell communication and how this may be exploited in the discovery of novel bioactivity is also explored. Finally, with the recent advances in bioinformatics and synthetic biology, it is becoming clear that the integration of these disciplines with genetic and biochemical characterization of the novel marine peptides, offers the most potential in the development of the next generation of societal solutions.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-441172017-09-13T14:02:53Z Emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology Reen, F. Gutiérrez-Barranquero, J. Dobson, A. Adams, C. O'Gara, Fergal © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI. The vast oceans of the world, which comprise a huge variety of unique ecosystems, are emerging as a rich and relatively untapped source of novel bioactive compounds with invaluable biotechnological and pharmaceutical potential. Evidence accumulated over the last decade has revealed that the diversity of marine microorganisms is enormous with many thousands of bacterial species detected that were previously unknown. Associated with this diversity is the production of diverse repertoires of bioactive compounds ranging from peptides and enzymes to more complex secondary metabolites that have significant bioactivity and thus the potential to be exploited for innovative biotechnology. Here we review the discovery and functional potential of marine bioactive peptides such as lantibiotics, nanoantibiotics and peptidomimetics, which have received particular attention in recent years in light of their broad spectrum of bioactivity. The significance of marine peptides in cell-to-cell communication and how this may be exploited in the discovery of novel bioactivity is also explored. Finally, with the recent advances in bioinformatics and synthetic biology, it is becoming clear that the integration of these disciplines with genetic and biochemical characterization of the novel marine peptides, offers the most potential in the development of the next generation of societal solutions. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44117 10.3390/md13052924 MDPI AG unknown
spellingShingle Reen, F.
Gutiérrez-Barranquero, J.
Dobson, A.
Adams, C.
O'Gara, Fergal
Emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology
title Emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology
title_full Emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology
title_fullStr Emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology
title_full_unstemmed Emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology
title_short Emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology
title_sort emerging concepts promising new horizons for marine biodiscovery and synthetic biology
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44117