Biosurfactants and bioemulsifiers from marine bacteria: current advances and perspectives

The marine biosphere is one of the Earth's richest habitats for discovering unique bioactive metabolites and their producers. This review presents a comprehensive foundation on novel classes of biosurfactants (BSs) and/or bioemulsifiers (BEs) derived from marine microbes and identifies gaps in the existing literature to guide future research. A systematic literature search was carried out, and data were collected, analysed and presented. Certain genera, namely Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Planococcus, Serratia, Rhodococcus and Halomonas, were predominantly reported as BSs/BEs producers. Some newer terms, namely didemnin, esperin, furanomycin, pumilacidin, plipastatin, rhodofactin, massetolides, mojavensin, pontifactin and pseudofactin, have been introduced. The limited research on the molecular aspects of BSs/BEs production provides significant opportunities for Bio-scientists to discover novel compounds. Expanding research into deep-sea sampling, biosynthetic pathways and metagenomic approaches may offer insights into viable but non-culturable cells. In February 2010, we published a review on BSs/BEs from marine microbes, and this review serves as a sequel, providing updated insights into this fascinating topic. This article includes recent advancements in the field of BSs/BEs from marine bacteria and their forthcoming potential industrial applications.