Front Microbiol. 2015 Sep 25;6:1014. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01014. eCollection 2015.
Frontiers in microbiology
L Shivlata, Tulasi Satyanarayana
PMID: 26441937 PMCID: PMC4585250 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01014
Microbes belonging to the phylum Actinobacteria are prolific sources of antibiotics, clinically useful bioactive compounds and industrially important enzymes. The focus of the current review is on the diversity and potential applications of thermophilic and alkaliphilic actinobacteria, which are highly diverse in their taxonomy and morphology with a variety of adaptations for surviving and thriving in hostile environments. The specific metabolic pathways in these actinobacteria are activated for elaborating pharmaceutically, agriculturally, and biotechnologically relevant biomolecules/bioactive compounds, which find multifarious applications.
Keywords: Actinobacteria; alkaliphiles; bioactive compounds; enzymes; polyextremophiles; thermophiles