this study was done on the seawater bacteria to find new secondary metabolites with potential industrial or pharmaceutica potential
There are still many undiscovered secrets about the marine environment. Egypt is characterized by presence of three kinds of seawater, the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. There are a lot of information still hidden about them. Marine microorganisms live in a harsh environment, so they adapt by producing secondary metabolites that can defend against predators or aid in various ecological activities. This study aims to screen seawater bacteria for production of secondary metabolites with potential industrial or pharmaceutical applications. Seawater metagenomes were gathered from the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal.  High quality Metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were separated from the metagenomes and screened for presence of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that encode for secondary metabolites. it was found that thirteen MAGs shared similarities with other unculturable bacteria from different seas around the world. One MAG was supposed to be a brand-new strain of Gammaproteobacterium. Some MAGs were proposed to produce a valuable natural product like retinal, phenazine antibiotic and carotenoids. In conclusion, seawater could be an easily accessible source for new industrial or pharmaceutical compounds.