Research progress of Paenibacillus polymyxa and its lipopeptide compounds

The Bacillus spp. and Paenibacillus spp. produce abundant secondary metabolic compounds, especially of which the antimicrobial lipopeptides are being mined the treasury of natural antibiotics and Paenibacillus polymyxa is a best representative among them. The biocontrol mechanisms of P. polymyxa are related to its lipopeptide compounds, mainly including fusaricidins, polymyxins and tridecaptins. Those lipopeptides related to antagonistic microorganisms in P. polymyxa have been found to be produced by non-ribosomal peptide synthase (NRPSs) being a large multienzyme complexes. Based on a brief introduction of application of P. polymyxa in plant disease control and medicine use, types and functions of lipopeptide compounds produced by P. polymyxa have been reviewed in this paper. Combing our studied on biocontrol work, the research progress in chemical structure, antimicrobial activities, mechanisms of action, analogue synthesis and mass spectrometry detection of fusaricidins, polymyxins and tridecaptins were summarized. The prospects for the trend of future researches have been made, which could provide a reference for further discovery, exploitation and utilization of natural resources of lipopeptide compounds.