Marine microbiome as source of natural products

Less than 1% of living microorganisms can be cultured in the laboratory, but even this minute part has produced incredible discoveries such as antibiotics that have saved millions of lifes. We can only imagine what other great inventions will come to light when the rest of this enormous universe of living genomes is awakened. Everything is recorded in the genes, and modern metagenomic studies, involving the large-scale sequencing of the genetic material of marine microorganisms, as well as the similarities between the human gut and ocean microbiomes, are not only providing powerful insights into why the Earth is a living planet, but are also revealing possible causes and promising cures for metabolic diseases, including cancer. The marine microbiome contains many billions of genes with the ability to express an unimaginable arsenal of small molecules, as well as proteins, lipids and others classes of products with ecological functions that can be ‘humanized’ for the discovery of new pharmaceuticals, improved enzymes, biopolymers and novel biomaterials, as well as new resources for food and feed stocks, nutraceuticals, diagnostic devices, personal care and cosmetic products and an ever-increasing list of marine natural products. Today, the term Marine Biodiversity is known as Marine Genomic Resources. Whilst ‘Blue Biotechnology’ remains in its infancy, a report for European DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (2014) (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/maritimeaffairs_fisheries/ consultations/index_en.htm) projected that revenue in Europe from blue biotechnology could reach €1 billion within 5 years if a market growth of 6–8% per annum was maintained and result in creation of 10 000 new jobs. A 2015 report analysis of market for marine biotechnology from Smithers Rapra (http://www.smithe rsrapra.com/news/2015/October/market-for-marine-biotec hnology) indicated that this global market has the potential to reach $4.8 billion by 2020, rising to $6.4 billion by 2025. However, in the main, these estimations are based on ‘classical’ approaches such as aquaculture, bioenergy and algal cosmetics and underestimate the role of the marine microbiome. Market opportunities and job creation are likely to significantly increase in the future with the advent of transversal technologies directed at exploiting other biotechnological advances, such as the evolution of bioinformatics, synthetic biology, molecular diagnostics and devices, biocatalysis and the many OMICS technologies. The marine microbiome must be an essential part of the bioeconomy. However, whilst the enormous potential of the marine microbiome has been recognized by industry, there is currently a lack of coordination amongst policy makers, governments, civil society organizations, academia and large industries, perhaps due in part to the reluctance of big companies to invest in innovations for the long term. This scenario represents an excellent opportunity to create smalland medium-sized enterprises that are highly specialized. A new wave of such ‘marine biotech enterprises’ based on modern bioprospecting would provide employment for highly qualified staff and the chance to pursue innovative, ‘high-tech’ ideas at the cutting edge of modern science. The complexity of the human gut microbiome has limited the development of microbiome-based therapeutics (Van der Lelie et al., 2017). However, this could be an excellent opportunity to improve current technologies to further understand the term ‘microbiome complexity’ and create a new network of innovative enterprises and further job opportunities. Metagenome approaches, including next-generation gene sequencing, bioinformatics, functional genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and other OMICS technologies, including the efficient engineering of bacteria chassis for heterologous expression as well as knowledge of cell-to-cell communication are all transversal disciplines that can be used outside the realm of the human body to interpret the role of other global microbiomes, including the marine microbiome. The bacterial habitants of the human gut may control the health of our immune system, but the marine