ABSTRACT
The agricultural use of synthetic chemicals as herbicides has worried many environmentalists. Although microbial products have not really been taken seriously as potential herbicides, there are reports of the herbicidal activity of streptomycete secondary metabolites. The expression “wonder drugs,” refers to the selective action that microbial chemicals exert against pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and tumors. Many industrial microbiologists have felt that antibiotic activity is merely the tip of the iceberg; that is, with regard to the potential application of microbial secondary metabolites for the benefit of humankind, the surface has only been scratched. Other surface enzymes are alkaline phosphatase and esterase and microbial inhibitors of these enzymes have immuno-modulation activity. A number of enzymes appear to be involved in disease processes, yet they have not been seriously used for detection of pharmacological agents in microbial broths. With regard to low-molecular-weight microbial metabolites, there are a number with activity against insects.
