Advances in actinomycete research: an ActinoBase review of 2019

Abstract

The actinomycetes are Gram-positive bacteria belonging to the order Actinomycetales within the phylum Actinobacteria . They include members with significant economic and medical importance, for example filamentous actinomycetes such as Streptomyces species, which have a propensity to produce a plethora of bioactive secondary metabolites and form symbioses with higher organisms, such as plants and insects. Studying these bacteria is challenging, but also fascinating and very rewarding. As a Microbiology Society initiative, members of the actinomycete research community have been developing a Wikipedia-style resource, called ActinoBase, the purpose of which is to aid in the study of these filamentous bacteria. This review will highlight 10 publications from 2019 that have been of special interest to the ActinoBase community, covering 4 major components of actinomycete research: (i) development and regulation; (ii) specialized metabolites; (iii) ecology and host interactions; and (iv) technology and methodology.

Integrating perspectives in actinomycete research: an ActinoBase review of 2020–21

“…Actinomycetes are often hard to genetically manipulate: some exhibit low intrinsic recombination frequencies, are slow-growers, or fail to sporulate; thus, many efforts go to delivering or adapting new tools for their genetic manipulation [ 48 ]. Traditionally PCR based technologies such as ReDIRECT [ 49 ] have been complemented or replaced by other methods such as the meganuclease I-SceI from Saccharomyces cerevisiae [ 50 ] for the use in novel and genetically uncharacterised actinomycetes; the adaptation of the CRISPR-Cas9 system through the development of pCRISPomyces [ 36 ]; and more recently to the CRISPR-BEST system [ 51 ], which allows genome manipulation without the introduction of a double-strand break, highlighted in last year’s ActinoBase review [ 1 ].…”

“…It aims to create a communal space to distribute knowledge and resources. Last year, ActinoBase published a review highlighting ten publications of important contributions to the field from 2019 [ 1 ]. This second review showcases 14 articles that integrate perspectives in actinomycete research from 2020 and early 2021, covering four main areas: i ) technology and methodology; ii ) specialised metabolites; iii ) development and regulation; and iv ) ecology and host interactions ( Fig.…”

Pharmaceutical Approaches on Antimicrobial Resistance: Prospects and Challenges

“…Although the main focus of antibiotic discovery in this current pipeline is still of non-extreme habitats of rare Actinomycetes, some researchers believe extreme conditions will be favorable to find more diversity in Actinomycetes and its unique metabolites. Several antimicrobial agents and other biologically active compounds sought from Actinomycetes have been discussed in many papers over the recent decades [ 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 ]. Those findings still consider Actinomycetes to be one of the largest producers of antimicrobial compounds.…”

Microbial Musings – August 2020

“…Having first met with them at the Microbiology Society annual conference in Belfast in 2019, the journal sponsored their development of Actinobase (actinobase.org), a Wiki-based community repository for all things actinomycete, which they actively curate by adding a large variety of content for microbiologists around the world. We proposed as a way to further connect the journal to its community that they write, as a group of ECRs, an annual topic review for the journal highlighting their personal favourite papers in actinomycete research from 2019 [1]. The authors, Sam Prudence (@Sam_Prudence), Emily Addinton (@emyaddington), Laia Castaño-Espriu (@Laia_Castano), David Mark (@DavidRcoMark), Linamaria Pintor-Escabar (@LinaPintorE), Alicia Russell (@alisia_russell) and Tom McLean (@TomMcLean05), bring together papers across four major areas of actinomycete research from development and regulation, specialized metabolite production, ecology and host interactions and technologies and methodology.…”