Gems From the Caves: Genomic Insights Into the Biosynthetic Potential of Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria Associated With Tropical Cave-Dwelling Sponges.

ABSTRACT: Submarine caves are promising frontiers for novel biomolecules active against multidrug-resistant bacteria. These habitats harbour rich communities of marine sponges, whose microbiomes produce diverse bioactive metabolites. The present study investigates the potential of bacteria isolated from cave-dwelling marine sponges of the class Demospongiae of a tropical archipelago for the production of antimicrobial substances and reveals their biosynthetic diversity by genomic analyses. Ten out of the 89 antimicrobial-producing strains showed inhibitory activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, encompassing strains with multidrug-resistant phenotypes. Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) encoding antimicrobial-active metabolites were predicted in these sponge-derived pseudomonads. M

SUBMITTER: Dias GR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12823289 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature