MINI REVIEW article
Front. Antibiot.
Sec. Antibiotic Development
This article is part of the Research TopicAccelerating Antibiotic Development from Natural Products: Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)View all 8 articles
Beyond Antibiotics: The expanding horizon of microbial natural products
Provisionally accepted
- 1Kalinga University, Naya Raipur, India
- 2Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya, Ambikapur, India
- 3Berhampur University, Brahmapur, Odisha, India
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The continuous use of antibiotics has led to the development of antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens, posing a significant threat to both human and animal health. This necessitates exploring alternative solutions to combat this growing resistance. Natural products offer a viable alternative for microbial modulation, exhibiting diverse antibacterial processes and the capacity to modify microbial communities and biofilms. These compounds show potential as supplementary agents against resistant infections. Natural products derived from microbes are utilized as biofertilizers and biopesticides, enhancing crop yield and controlling plant pathogens, thereby offering an eco-friendly alternative to chemical fertilizers. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are crucial for combating fish-associated pathogens, reducing mortality rates in the aquaculture industry. Various bacteriocins, are used as food preservatives to inhibit spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms proving their potential in the food industry. In this review, the potential role of natural products from microbes in the food, agriculture and aquaculture industry sector has been elucidated. The challenges and prospects were also discussed to provide a foundation for identifying new research opportunities.
Keywords: antibiotics, antibiotics resistance, antimicrobial peptides, Bacteriocins, microbial modulation
Received: 15 Dec 2025; Accepted: 05 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Panigrahy, Panda, Kerketta and Mishra. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Rojita Mishra
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