Potentially novel Actinobacteria-derived antibiotics from unique microenvironments

Studies have shown that antibiotics are produced by these species in small amounts when the growth of the colony begins to slow due to nutrient exhaustion (Challis and Hopwood, 2003). Although possibly originally produced as signaling molecules able to induce gene expression (Chater et al., 2010), antibiotics provide a key to bacterial survival

5.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................83 5.2 Hurdles in commercialization of Actinobacteria antibiotics .........................................84