The over-prescription of antibiotics for treatment of infections is primarily to blame for the increase in bacterial resistance. Added to the problem is the slow rate at which novel antibiotics are discovered and the many processes that need to be followed to classify antimicrobials safe for medical use. Xenorhabdus spp. of the family Enterobacteriaceae, mutualistically associated with entomopathogenic nematodes of the genus Steinernema, produce a variety of antibacterial peptides, including bacteriocins, depsipeptides, xenocoumacins and PAX (peptide antimicrobial-Xenorhabdus) peptides, plus additional secondary metabolites with antibacterial and antifungal activity. The secondary metabolites of some strains are active against protozoa and a few have anti-carcinogenic properties. It is thus not surprising that nematodes invaded by a single strain of a Xenorhabdus species are not infected by other microorganisms. In this review, the antimicrobial compounds produced by Xenorhabdus spp. are listed and the gene clusters involved in synthesis of these secondary metabolites are discussed. We also review growth conditions required for increased production of antimicrobial compounds.

抗生素过量用于治疗感染主要是因为细菌耐药性的增加。问题还出在，发现新抗生素的速度缓慢，并且需要遵循许多过程来对可安全用于医疗用途的抗生素进行分类。Xenorhabdus spp。肠杆菌科的线虫与Steinernema属的致病性线虫相互关联，可产生多种抗菌肽，包括细菌素，大肠埃希菌肽，异种香豆素和PAX（抗菌肽Xenorhabdus））肽，以及具有抗菌和抗真菌活性的其他次生代谢产物。一些菌株的次生代谢产物对原生动物具有活性，而少数具有抗癌性。因此，由Xenorhabdus单一菌株入侵的线虫没有被其他微生物感染就不足为奇了。在本综述中，Xenorhabdus spp生产的抗菌化合物。列出了这些次级代谢产物的合成所涉及的基因簇。我们还审查了增加抗菌化合物生产所需的生长条件。