Filamentous microorganisms are potent sources of bioactive secondary metabolites, the molecules formed in response to complex environmental signals. The chemical diversity encoded in microbial genomes is only partially revealed by following the standard microbiological approaches. Mimicking the natural stimuli through laboratory co-cultivation is one of the most effective methods of awakening the formation of high-value metabolic products. Whereas the biosynthetic outcomes of co-cultures are reviewed extensively, the bioprocess aspects of such efforts are often overlooked. The aim of the present review is to discuss the submerged co-cultivation strategies used for triggering and enhancing secondary metabolites production in Streptomyces, a heavily investigated bacterial genus exhibiting an impressive repertoire of secondary metabolites, including a vast array of antibiotics. The previously published studies on influencing the biosynthetic capabilities of Streptomyces through co-cultivation are comparatively analyzed in the bioprocess perspective, mainly with the focus on the approaches of co-culture initiation, the experimental setup, the design of experimental controls and the ways of influencing the outcomes of co-cultivation processes. These topics are discussed in the general context of secondary metabolites production in submerged microbial co-cultures by referring to the Streptomyces-related studies as illustrative examples.

丝状微生物是具有生物活性的次级代谢物的有效来源，这些分子是响应复杂的环境信号而形成的。通过遵循标准的微生物学方法，仅部分揭示了微生物基因组中编码的化学多样性。通过实验室共培养模拟自然刺激是唤醒高价值代谢产物形成的最有效方法之一。尽管对共培养的生物合成结果进行了广泛审查，但这种努力的生物过程方面却常常被忽视。本综述的目的是讨论用于触发和增强链霉菌次生代谢物生产的水下共培养策略，一个经过大量研究的细菌属，表现出令人印象深刻的次级代谢产物库，包括大量抗生素。从生物过程的角度对以往发表的通过共培养影响链霉菌生物合成能力的研究进行了比较分析，主要集中在共培养启动的方法、实验装置、实验控制的设计和影响的方式。共同培养过程的结果。这些主题在水下微生物共培养中次生代谢物生产的一般背景下讨论，参考链霉菌相关研究作为说明性示例。