A review on different approaches to isolate antibiotic compounds from fungi

Abstract

Fungal secondary metabolites are promising grounds of many antibiotic compounds; this happens because of the unique biosynthetic capabilities of the organism in adaptation with various environments. Some of the potential environmental conditions or habitats stimulate fungi to produce bioactive compounds; these include various stress factors like temperature, osmotic changes and pollution. Traditional approaches used to isolate fungal antibiotics are mainly mono-culture-based and it trails behind the ever-expanding needs of the clinical world. A recent progress made in the culture-based approach is the co-culture of microbes, which creates a competing environment for the fungi resulting in the induction of hidden biosynthetic pathways. The revolutionizing impacts of the post-genomic era also aided these search in the form of various omics-based and biosynthetic approaches. These approaches not only facilitate the invention of all-new compounds but contribute in the modification of existing compounds through which the compounds can serve as better drug candidates.