Overview on biodiversity, chemistry, and biotechnological potential of microorganisms from the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Brazil is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet and a part expressive of that biodiversity are situated in the vast Amazon region. The biodiversity of the Amazon is distributed in different environments represented by upland forest, savanna, igapó forest, and floodplains. Microorganisms occur abundantly, considering that all the natural vegetal coverage of soil is full of microorganisms colonizing hosts and other microhabitats as water and animals. Owing to the fact that microorganisms from the Amazon are little known, in this chapter, we intend to present the current status of research on microorganisms in the Amazon, mainly reviewing results of researches that have been carried out in the state of Amazon within the principal institutions. The microbiota associated with plants from Amazon is an economically promising source of bioactives. In the state of Amazon, there is an important microorganism culture collection, which is preserved in education and research institutes. The biodiversity of microorganisms living in water habitats of Amazonian rivers has been assessed via independent culturable methods and with the help of molecular tools as well as the microbiota from rhizosphere. Data from previously reported studies related to biological control assays conducted with natural products from endophytic fungi, as well as results of research processes addressing water and soil bioremediation, are discussed. Finally, a variety of microbial metabolites uncovered by studies carried out by few regional groups, exploring metabolites produced by bacteria and fungi from plants and other Amazonian sources, are presented. Considering that the vast diversity of a few species of fungi already described were from tropical countries, the exploration of the Amazon microbiological diversity is of prime importance. © 2017, Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved.