Endophytes as Producers of Peptides: An Overview About the Recently Discovered Peptides from Endophytic Microbes

Abstract

An endophyte is a fungus or bacterium that lives within a plant in a symbiotic relationship. Extensive colonization of the plant tissue by endophytes creates a barrier effect, where they outcompete and prevent pathogenic organisms from taking hold. This happens by producing secondary metabolites that inhibit the growth of the competitors or pathogens. In this way they play a very important role in the plant defence mechanisms. The metabolites produced by these endophytes fall within a wide range of classes of compounds that include peptides which are the focus of this review. Peptides are increasingly being selected for drug development because they are specific for their targets and have a higher degree of interactions. There have been quite a number of endophytic peptides reported in the recent past indicating that endophytes can be used for the production of peptide based drugs. Molecular screening for NRPS, which shows peptide producing capability, has also shown that endophytes are potential producers of peptides. The presence of NRPS also offers the possibility of genetic modifications which may generate peptides with high pharmacological activities. This review, therefore, aims to show the current status of peptides isolated from endophytic bacteria and fungi in the recent decade. Endophytes as potential sources of peptides according to NRPS studies will also be discussed.

Exopolysaccharides from a Codonopsis pilosula endophyte activate macrophages and inhibit cancer cell proliferation and migration

“…Endophytes are endosymbionts; these organisms, including bacteria and fungi, are ubiquitously found in plants and evolve along with the host plant . Endophytes provide the host with many benefits: they can promote growth, contribute to nutrient acquisition, or improve resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.…”

Construction of nitrogen-fixingKlebsiella variicolaGN02 expression vector pET28a-Lac-EGFP and its colonization ofPennisetum giganteumz.x.lin roots

“…Nitrogen is an important elemental constituent of proteins and nucleic acids and is extremely important for animals, plants and microorganisms. Endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria present in plants for a long time can co-develop with the host to provide certain nitrogen compounds for the host plant, promote the absorption of various nutrients by plant roots and indirectly promote plant growth [21,22]. As ideal plant growth-promoting bacteria, nitrogen-fixing bacteria not only have high nitrogenase activity, but also require successful colonization of the roots of host plants [23,24].…”

Medicinal significance of naturally occurring cyclotetrapeptides

“…2221) isolated from Castaniopsis fissa [68][69][70]. The entomopathogenic fungus Hirsutella sp., isolated from an infected spider, was found to produce a new cyclotetrapeptide hirsutide (46), cyclo-(L-NMe-Phe-L-Phe-L-NMe-Phe-L-Val), using a cytotoxicity-guided isolation procedure [71].…”