Mining Marine Microorganisms as a Source of New Antimicrobials and Antifungals

The oceans with their diverse life forms cover greater than 70% of the earth's surface and present themselves as an unexplored area of opportunity. Owing to the many habitats in the sea, marine microorganisms encompass a complex and diverse assemblage of microscopic life forms, of which only 1% have been cultured or identified. Although just initiated in the past decade, natural products drug discovery from marine microorganisms has been encouraging. The chemical and biosynthetic diversity of these microbial compounds, coupled with their pharmacological activities, harbors great potential for the discovery of new antibiotics to combat the evolving resistance of pathogens to existing drugs. In this review, we summarize the diverse compounds identified from marine microorganisms and their potential as new antibacterial and antifungal drugs.