Microbial Pigments: Sources and Applications in the Marine Environment

Pigments are colored metabolites secreted by different microorganisms. The uses of microbial pigments have amplified many folds due to numerous benefits over the synthetic pigments and are generally preferred due to the simplicity of culturing and extraction of pigments, cost-effective, safety for humans, thus having a wide range of applications in pharmaceutical, textile, cosmetics and food industries. Marine species represent a noteworthy sector of the oceanic population, which significantly produces biologically active moieties with different industrial and medical applications. Owing to the remarkable importance of microbial pigments in the marine ecosystem, the current review sheds light on marine microbial sources of pigments together with some applications in the marine environment. It also encompasses the need for prolonging the survey on novel extreme habitats and highlighting the future potential, targeting to contribute to the global economy.