Cyanobacteria - promising objects of biotechnology and medicine

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are the oldest microorganisms capable of photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. The wide prevalence and high adaptability of cyanobacteria is provided by secondary metabolites of various chemical nature. Among them are polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides, non-protein amino acids, lipopolysaccharides, alkaloids, terpenoids and others with a wide range of biological activity. Cyanobacteria have a huge potential for discovering new natural molecules, studying the ways of their biosynthesis, developing new pharmaceuticals, and their clinical application. The advantage of cyanobacteria as a microbial source for drug discovery is the economy of their cultivation using simple inorganic nutrients compared to other microorganisms. Unlocking the potential of cyanobacteria requires the use of advanced methods of biotechnology and synthetic biology, which is associated with the need to modify the secondary metabolites of cyanobacteria to obtain a wide range of valuable compounds. Biological treatment using microalgae is one of the most promising areas of biotechnology for wastewater treatment, characterized by high efficiency, simplicity, and environmental friendliness. The problem remains to obtain strains that are tolerant to high concentrations of carbon dioxide and eutopic cultivation conditions in cattle-breeding effluents. Integration of cyanobacterial-based biotechnologies into the cycle of purification and processing of animal waste is also a challenge. Work in this direction is currently ongoing. The use of modern biotechnology methods will allow the use of cyanobacteria for the biodegradation of pollutants, including animal waste, the production of effective non-toxic and relatively inexpensive medicines capable of overcoming drug resistance and improving the effectiveness of treatment, as well as nanoparticles, molecular hydrogen, and solving other practical problems of ecology, biotechnology, medicine.