FIGURE 1.

Graphical summary of research and developments focused on antibiotic discovery from actinomycetes over 76 years. Hunting of antibiotics from actinomycetes has emanated with the discovery of actinomycin in 1940 (a) and lined up with several commercially important antibiotics and their derivatives: streptomycin (a), cephalosporins (b), Chloramphenicol (c), neomycin (d), tetracycline (e), nystatin (f), virginiamycin (g), erythromycin (h), lincomycin (i), vancomycin (j), noviobiocin (k), rifamycin (l), kanamycin (m), nalidixic acid (n), fusidic acid (o), gentamicin (p), trimethoprim (q), fostomycin (r), ribostamycin (s), mupiriocin (t), linezolid (u), daptomycin (v), and platensimycin (w). Classic actinomycetes research was driven by isolation and activity screening approach. Whereas, modern actinomycetes research is driven by array of breakthroughs in genetics, genomics, metagenomics, genome mining and editing and high-resolution metabolomics, in association with classical approach.