Exploring the biodiversity of Antarctic cyanobacteria: A review of secondary metabolites and their applications

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms widely distributed in diverse environments, including Antarctica, one of the most extreme ecosystems on the planet. These microorganisms have the unique ability to produce a variety of secondary metabolites with bioactive properties. The cyanobacteria that thrive in Antarctica hold exceptional biotechnological promise as they consistently meet and overcome the challenges of this demanding environment by producing a range of diverse secondary metabolites tailored for survival and adaptation. Therefore, this review article aims to explore the secondary metabolites produced by Antarctic cyanobacteria and their potential application in different industries, including pharmacology, cosmetics, and agriculture. Four hundred and twenty-one data were collected from articles reporting the search for metabolites produced by Antarctic cyanobacteria, published between 1989 and 2023, with the years 2000, 2008, and 2014 contributing more than half of this data. Around 29.2 % of the articles surveyed focused on secondary metabolites, 61 % on biotechnological potential, and 9.7 % on specific genes. These results demonstrate that Antarctica's unique and extreme environment is as a remarkable natural laboratory for studying cyanobacteria and their diverse secondary metabolites.