[Antibiotics: present and future].

The author discuss the up to date interpretation of the concept of antibiotics and antibiotic research, as well as the present role of various natural, semisynthetic and synthetic antibiotic compounds in various areas of the human therapy. The origin and the total number of all antibiotics and applied antibiotics in the practice, as well as the bioactive microbial metabolites (antibiotics) in other therapeutical, non-antibiotic fields (including agriculture) are also reviewed. The author discusses main problems, such as increasing (poly)resistance, virulence of pathogens and the non-scientific factors (such as a decline of research efforts and their sociological, economic, financial and regulatory reasons).

Thoughts and facts about antibiotics: where we are now and where we are heading.

The declining trends in microbial metabolite and natural products research and the refocusing of this research area are discussed. Renewing natural products research requires inexhaustible natural resources, as well as new genetic techniques and microbial sources, including endophytic microbes. The numbers of known bioactive metabolites are summarized according to their microbiological origin, biological activities and chemical structures.

Bioactive microbial metabolites.

The short history, specific features and future prospects of research of microbial metabolites, including antibiotics and other bioactive metabolites, are summarized. The microbial origin, diversity of producing species, functions and various bioactivities of metabolites, unique features of their chemical structures are discussed, mainly on the basis of statistical data. The possible numbers of metabolites may be discovered in the future, the problems of dereplication of newly isolated compounds as well as the new trends and prospects of the research are also discussed.