Scientists find untapped pharmaceutical resources in the deep sea

FUZHOU:

Chinese marine scientists have identified a plethora of previously unknown microbial natural products from the deep seabed that may have pharmaceutical applications.

In the cold seeps of the deep sea, microbial communities thrive on the geological seepage of hydrocarbons and inorganic compounds for their sustenance, in stark contrast to the sunlight-dependent ecosystems with which humans are more familiar at the surface.

These organisms use biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) to synthesize natural products that help them compete for resources. These unknown natural products are believed to possess powerful antimicrobial properties, which could be a game changer in the fight against drug-resistant infections.

The team of scientists, led by researchers from the Third Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources, analyzed 22 sediment cores from nine cold seeps and detected natural product-encoding BGCs from 63 archaeal and bacterial phyla.

A large fraction of the BGCs they discovered likely encode antimicrobial compounds, which serve as chemical weapons for host defense and competition within the microbial community, according to the study recently published in the journal Science Advances.

The findings provide a way to identify previously unrecognized antimicrobials and other types of drugs, according to the researchers.