Antimicrobials from Medicinal Plants: Key Examples, Success Stories and Prospects in Tackling Antibiotic Resistance

The rising statistics of antimicrobial resistance pose an alarming concern for the mankind. The extensive/injudicious use of antibiotics in the environment, animal husbandry, and health care have led to the alarming rise of infectious microbes developing resistance against conventional drugs. The use of phytotherapeutics defines an attractive approach to tackling drug-resistant microbes, attributed to their ability to target major antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, including efflux pumps, biofilms, and cell membranes, among others. In recent times, the discovery and bioprospection of plants for value-added metabolites have witnessed a tremendous upsurge, with several phytomolecules demonstrating bactericidal and drug-resistance reversal properties. However, several existing challenges, including their low concentration in plants, climatic variations, overutilization of plant resources, and deforestation, have limited the utilization of phytotherapeutics. Discussing the growing concern of drug-resistant microbes and antimicrobial resistance, the thematic article discusses the existing and emerging scenarios of antimicrobial resistance in microbes. In the post-antibiotic era, phytotherapeutics defines enormous potential to tackle the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, addressed through genetic engineering of microbes/plant systems for enhanced antimicrobial production. The success stories of antimicrobials from medicinal plants, as exemplified by key examples, associated challenges, possible strategies, and prospects of antimicrobials in drug discovery, form the key underlying theme of the article.