Secondary Metabolites Derived from Actinomycetes: Iron Modulation and Their Therapeutic Potential

The search for new drugs against fungal infections is a major challenge to current research in mycotic diseases. Among the different types of drugs prevailing in the market antifungal antibiotics have an important role in the control of mycotic diseases. However the need for new, safe and more effective antifungal is a major challenge to the pharmaceutical industry today, especially with the increase in opportunistic infections in the immune-compromised host. Actinomycetes have occupied a prominent position in the pharmaceutical industry for their seemingly unlimited capacity to produce secondary metabolites. The use of Actinomycetes as an anti fungal agent in the past is mostly responsible for its popularity with antibiotic research today. Considering the immense potential of these Actinomycetes in the discovery of novel lead compounds and for exploitation in pharmaceutical, agriculture and other industrial applications, current review discusses about secondary metabolites derived from Actinomycetes and the iron modulation for their use as an effective therapeutic agent. Keywords: Actinomycetes, antibiotics, antifungal, antimicrobial, iron, secondary metabolites.