The use of cyanobacterial metabolites as natural medical and biotechnological tools: review article

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic, Gram-negative bacteria that are considered one of the most morphologically diverse groups of prokaryotes with a chief role in the global nutrient cycle as they fixed gaseous carbon dioxide and nitrogen to organic materials. Cyanobacteria have significant adaptability to survive in harsh conditions due to they have different metabolic pathways with unique compounds, effective defensive mechanisms, and wide distribution in different habitats. Besides, they are successfully used to face different challenges in several fields, including industry, aquaculture, agriculture, food, dairy products, pollution control, bioenergy, and pharmaceutics. Analysis of 680 publications revealed that nearly 1630 cyanobacterial molecules belong to different families have a wide range of applications in several fields, including cosmetology, agriculture, pharmacology (immunosuppressant, anticancer, antibacterial, antiprotozoal, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, anticoagulant, anti-tuberculosis, antitumor, and antiviral activities) and food industry. In this review, we nearly mentioned 92 examples of cyanobacterial molecules that are considered the most relevant effects related to anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, and anticancer activities as well as their roles that can be used in various biotechnological fields. These cyanobacterial products might be promising candidates for fighting various diseases and can be used in managing viral and microbial infections.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Keywords:

• Cyanobacteria
• metabolites
• biotechnology
• applications

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript.

Author contributions

Esmail M. El-Fakharany: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Data curation, collected literature data, wrote and edited the manuscript. Mabroka H. Saad: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, collected literature data, wrote and edited the manuscript. Marwa S. Salem: Collected literature data and contributed to the manuscript editing. Nagwa M. Sidkey: Data curation, collected literature data, wrote and edited the manuscript.