Underexploited benefits of microbial secondary metabolites: Major challenges a review

Abstract

Secondary metabolites (SMs) are naturally occurring compounds produced mostly by bacteria, fungus, and plants. They are low-molecular-weight compounds with a wide range of chemical structures and biological functions. In contrast to main metabolites such as lipids, amino acids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids, the name secondary metabolite comes from the discovery that their creation is not required for organism growth and reproduction. SMs, on the other hand, are far from secondary, and the term "specialised metabolites" is being used to characterise them. Organic chemists, molecular biologists, and bioinformaticians are all working on SMs manufacturing these days.