The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) among pathogenic organism
puts human and animal lives at stake. As a result of that, researchers in the scientific
community tirelessly made efforts to search for novel antimicrobial agents to combat
the pathogenesis of multidrug-resistant pathogens. Marine environment represents a
vast diversity of lives that interact with each other and thus have to protect themselves
against infectious pathogens. Hence, they present an armamentarium of diversified
biomolecules with different mechanisms of action, which aids the survival of the host
in the very same environment. Among the natural biomolecules, antimicrobial peptides
(AMPs) gain more attention owing to their potential action as antimicrobial agents
against several infectious diseases. With the emergence of MDR pathogens, AMPs are
currently deemed to be the next generation of antibiotics. The quest of these AMPs was
initially focused on the terrestrial environment for years. By knowing the presence of
the least explored and diverse organism, the focus on the quest of AMPs is now
heading toward the marine ecosystem. The current chapter focuses on the benefits,
confronts and chances of using AMPs against MDR pathogens, and also emphasizes the need and importance of designing a focused development tactic to support the
advancement and potential application of AMPs in medicine.
Keywords: Antimicrobial peptides, Antibacterial peptides, Antifungal peptides, Antimycobacterial peptides, Antiprotozoal peptides, Antiviral peptides, Marine environment, Multidrug-resistant pathogens.
