Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents: Potential Hot Spots for Natural Products Discovery?

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are the most extreme and dynamic environments on Earth. However, islands of highly dense and biologically diverse Communities exist in the immediate vicinity of hydrothermal vent flows, ill stalk contrast to the surrounding bare seafloor. These communities comprise organisms with distinct metabolisms based oil chemosynthesis and growth rates comparable to those from shallow water tropical environments, which have been rich Sources Of biologically active natural products. The geological Setting and geochemical nature Of deep-se vents that impact (lie biogeography of vent organisms, chemosynthesis, and the known biological and metabolic diversify of Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaca, including the handful Of natural products; isolated to date from deep-sea Vent organisms, arc considered here in all assessment of deep-sea hydrothermal vents as potential hot Spots for natural products investigations. of critical importance too are (lie logistics of collecting (feel) vent organisms, opportunities for re-collection considering the stability and longevity of vent sites, and the ability to culture natural product-producing, deep Vent organisms in the laboratory. New cost-effective technologies in deep-sea research and more advanced Molecular techniques aimed at screening a more inclusive genetic assembly are poised to accelerate natural product discoveries from these microbial diversity hot spots.