Microbial drug resistance is increasing over the last years, becoming one of the most important health concerns in the twenty-first century. It encourages the discovery of new antibiotics. Thus, novel antibiotics discovered by exploring different environments that previously have been left out of the scientific focus is a realistic opportunity. One of these habitats can be forest deadwood, which is a specific niche inside of the forest that provides shelter and nutrition to a great variety of organisms, such as fungi, bacteria, or saproxylic insects. Different studies have found the existence of complex antagonisms and symbiotic interactions among them, which points at decayed wood as a competitive environment. Besides, it is an interesting niche to look for new antibiotic producer microorganisms and active chemicals. This chapter describes isolation and screening methods of novel producers of antimicrobial compounds from decayed wood.
Keywords: Antibiotic; Bacteria; Bioactive compounds; Competition bioassay; Decayed wood; Fungi; Microorganisms; PKS; Screening.