Microbial-derived natural products have functional and structural diversity and complexity. For several decades, they have provided the basic foundation for most drugs available to modern medicine. Microbial-derived natural products have wide-ranging applications, especially as chemotherapeutics for various diseases and disorders. By exploring distinct microorganisms in different environments, small novel bioactive molecules with unique functionalities and biological or biomedical significance can be identified. Aquatic environments, such as oceans or seas, are considered to be sources of abundant novel bioactive compounds. Studies on marine microorganisms have revealed that several bioactive compounds extracted from marine algae and invertebrates are eventually generated by their associated bacteria. These findings have prompted intense research interest in discovering novel compounds from marine microorganisms. Natural products derived from Dermacoccus exhibit antibacterial, antitumor, antifungal, antioxidant, antiviral, antiparasitic, and eventually immunosuppressive bioactivities. In this review, we discussed the diversity of secondary metabolites generated by genus Dermacoccus with respect to their chemical structure, biological activity, and origin. This brief review highlights and showcases the pivotal importance of Dermacoccus-derived natural products and sheds light on the potential venues of discovery of new bioactive compounds from marine microorganisms.
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.