Polar Actinomycetes and Their Secondary Metabolites

Abstract

In the past decades, extreme environments have become a popular hot spot for scientists and researchers to find novel microorganisms and natural products with biological potential. Actinomycetes are Gram-positive bacteria. It is one of the most important microorganisms that produce various useful secondary metabolites. The novel species of actinomycetes from 2006–2018 were enormously discovered (2,085 species). Among those novel actinomycetes, 64 novel species were isolated from the Arctic, subarctic, and Antarctic regions (an approximate 3 % of novel actinomycetes since 2006). Over 60 % of polar actinomycetes were isolated from soil, followed by sea sediment, and rock. Ten species of actinomycetes were reported to have the ability to produce potential natural products. Most of compounds show antimicrobial activity.

Keywords: polar regions, Arctic, subarctic, Antarctic, actinomycetes, natural product