Bioprospecting

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Bioprospecting: An Industrial Perspective

   • Robert P. Borris

   Pages 1-14

3. Legal and Ethnoecological Components of Bioprospecting

   • Morten Walløe Tvedt

   Pages 15-28

4. Current Status and Perspectives in Marine Biodiscovery

   • Daria Firsova, Nipun Mahajan, Hiren Solanki, Christine Morrow, Olivier P. Thomas

   Pages 29-50

5. Microbial Resource Centers Contribute to Bioprospecting of Bacteria and Filamentous Microfungi

   • Jörg Overmann, David Smith

   Pages 51-79

6. Bioprospecting Archaea: Focus on Extreme Halophiles

   • André Antunes, Marta F. Simões, Stefan W. Grötzinger, Jörg Eppinger, Judith Bragança, Vladimir B. Bajic

   Pages 81-112

7. Bioprospecting Soil Metagenomes for Antibiotics

   • Chiara Borsetto, Elizabeth M. H. Wellington

   Pages 113-136

8. Biotechnological Applications of the Roseobacter Clade

   • Mikkel Bentzon-Tilia, Lone Gram

   Pages 137-166

9. Iwokrama Fungal/Plant Bioprospecting Project 2000–2003 – A Model for the Future?

   • Ramish Pingal

   Pages 167-196

10. Bioprospecting with Brazilian Fungi

    • João Vicente Braga de Souza, Diego Rayan Teixeira de Sousa, Jessyca dos Reis Celestino, Walter Oliva Pinto Filho Segundo, Érica Simplício de Souza

    Pages 197-211

11. Secondary Metabolites of Mine Waste Acidophilic Fungi

    • Andrea A. Stierle, Donald B. Stierle

    Pages 213-243

12. Insect Bioprospecting Especially in India

    • S. K. Srivastava

    Pages 245-267

13. Phages Against Infectious Diseases

    • Luís D. R. Melo, Hugo Oliveira, Sílvio B. Santos, Sanna Sillankorva, Joana Azeredo

    Pages 269-294

14. The Role of Biodiversity Centres in Bioprospecting: A Case Study from Sarawak

    • Julia Shaw

    Pages 295-298

15. Bioprospecting Insights

    • Russell Paterson, Nelson Lima

    Pages 299-303

This book considers all aspects of bioprospecting in 14 succinct chapters and a forward by David Hawksworth. The organisms addressed include plants, insects, fungi, bacteria and phages. Bioprospecting has never been more relevant and is of renewed interest, because of the extremely worrying rise in novel, resistant pathogenic microorganisms. The practices in pharmaceutical companies have failed to deliver novel antibiotics to control these infections. We need to look for new sources of drugs from the environment on a massive scale as drug discovery is “too important to fail”. Furthermore, the field can add great value to ecosystems in terms of economics, while providing additional reasons for maintaining associated services, such as food provision, benign climate, effective nutrient cycling and cultural practices. Bioprospecting provides another reason why climate change must be reduced in order to preserve relevant environments. Previous bioprospecting projects should be re-visited and established biodiversity centres have a major role. Many different ecosystems exist which contain unique organisms with the potential to supply novel antibiotics, enzymes, food, and cosmetics, or they may simply have aesthetic value. The book stresses the difficulties in obtaining successful products and yet describes why natural products should be investigated over combinatorial chemistry. Personal experience of bioprospecting projects are given significance. Issues such as how to share the benefits equitably with local communities are described and why pharmaceutical companies can be reluctant to be involved. Legal issues are discussed. Finally, there has never been a better time for a new book on bioprospecting, because of the need to preserve ecosystems, and from the emergence of resistant pathogenic microorganisms.

• resistant microorganisms
• Ecosystem services
• Antibiotics
• pharmaceuticals
• fungi

• Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

  Russell Paterson, Nelson Lima

Editors:

Dr. Russell Paterson, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
Dr. Nelson Lima, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal