Alkaloids from marine fungi : promising antimicrobials? New review published!

Resistance of pathogenic microorganisms against antimicrobials is a major threat to contemporary human society. It necessitates a perpetual influx of novel antimicrobial compounds. This review gives an overview on novel alkaloids with promising antimicrobial properties discovered in the past five years and produced by marine fungi. Several discovery strategies are summarized, and knowledge gaps in biochemical production routes are identified. Finally, links between the structure of the newly discovered molecules and their activity are proposed. The number of newly discovered antimicrobial alkaloids is low, due to the narrow spectrum of discovery protocols that are used and the fact that antimicrobial properties of newly discovered alkaloids are barely characterized. Alternatives are proposed in this review. In conclusion, this review summarizes novel findings on antimicrobial alkaloids from marine fungi, shows their potential as promising therapeutic candidates, and hints on how to further improve this potential
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