Actinomycetes: what more can they offer in an era of metabolic engineering and artificial intelligence?

Actinomycetes are ubiquitous bacteria found in many different niches with superior metabolic capabilities resulting in the production of many potent bioactive compounds. Since the 1940s, most notably, the members of the order Streptomycetales have yielded many clinically important antibiotics and antimicrobial compounds starting with actinomycin and streptomycin. In this paper, recent advances in metabolic engineering as well as the use of artificial intelligence will be discussed as they are undoubtedly increasing the chances of discovery of novel bioactive compounds from the unexhausted natural product machinery of actinomycetes.