Metabolomics of Endophytic Fungi Producing Associated Plant Secondary Metabolites: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities

Endophytic Fungi as Alternative and Reliable Sources for Potent Anticancer Agents

“…The implication of this is that there are ample opportunities available for the manipulation of the endophyte biosynthetic pathways [19] to yield wide varieties of molecules and scafolds for drug discovery process. 'Endophytism' is, thus, a unique cost-beneit plant microbe association deined by 'location' (not 'function') that is transiently symptomless, unobstructive, and established entirely inside the living host plant tissues [20,21]. Evidence of plant-associated microorganisms found in the fossilized tissues has revealed that endophyte-plant associations may have evolved from the time higher plants irst appeared on the earth surface [22].…”

“…Endophytic fungi are a very diverse polyphyletic group of microorganisms; they can thrive asymptomatically in the tissues of plants aboveground as well as belowground, including stems, leaves and/or roots [26]. Many endophytes have the potential to synthesize various bioactive metabolites that may directly or indirectly be used as therapeutic agents against numerous diseases [3,19,21,[27][28][29]. Occasionally and usually hiting major buck, endophytes that produce host plant secondary metabolites with therapeutic value or potentials have been discovered; some examples include paciltaxel (also known as taxol) [9] and podophyllotoxin [17,30].…”

Current Understanding of Endophytes: Their Relevance, Importance, and Industrial Potentials

“…disease protection [51]. The diagram (Fig 1) which has been published by [5] is adapted for understanding of the various endophyte classes.…”

“…More extensive and continuous colonization of plants might be required for endophytes of the first type because coincidence with pathogen propagules would be necessary for antagonism. According to Kusari and Spiteller (2012) 5 the effectiveness of endophytes as biological control agents (BCAs) is dependent on many factors. These factors include: host specificity, the population dynamics and example of host colonization, the capability to shift within host tissues, and the capability to stimulate systemic resistance.…”

“…Endophytes constitute a remarkably large group of microorganism ubiquitous in plants and maintain a close association with their host for at least a part of their life cycle. During this association, none of the interacting partners are discernibly harmed [5]. Approximately 300,000 plant species growing in unexplored areas on the earth are host to one or more endophytes [6] .…”