Endophytic Fungi: Key Insights, Emerging Prospects, and Challenges in Natural Product Drug Discovery

Plant-associated endophytes define an important symbiotic association in nature and are established bio-reservoirs of plant-derived natural products. Endophytes colonize the internal tissues of a plant without causing any disease symptoms or apparent changes. Recently, there has been a growing inter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2022-02, Vol.10 (2), p.360
Main Authors: Tiwari, Pragya, Bae, Hanhong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anti-infectives
Antibiotics
Antimicrobial agents
Antiseptics
Antitumor agents
Azadirachtin
Bioactive compounds
bioactive metabolites
Biology
Biosynthesis
biosynthetic gene clusters (BCG)
Cancer
Drug discovery
Drug resistance
Endophytes
endophytic fungi
FDA approval
Flowers & plants
fungal pharmacology
Fungi
Fusarium oxysporum
Genetic engineering
Genomes
Metabolism
Metabolites
Molecular modelling
Natural products
Paclitaxel
Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmacology
Phytochemicals
Plants
Quinine
R&D
Research & development
Review
Signs and symptoms
Taxol
Vincristine
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Summary:Plant-associated endophytes define an important symbiotic association in nature and are established bio-reservoirs of plant-derived natural products. Endophytes colonize the internal tissues of a plant without causing any disease symptoms or apparent changes. Recently, there has been a growing interest in endophytes because of their beneficial effects on the production of novel metabolites of pharmacological significance. Studies have highlighted the socio-economic implications of endophytic fungi in agriculture, medicine, and the environment, with considerable success. Endophytic fungi-mediated biosynthesis of well-known metabolites includes taxol from , azadirachtin A and B from , vincristine from , and quinine from sp. The discovery of the billion-dollar anticancer drug taxol was a landmark in endophyte biology/research and established new paradigms for the metabolic potential of plant-associated endophytes. In addition, endophytic fungi have emerged as potential prolific producers of antimicrobials, antiseptics, and antibiotics of plant origin. Although extensively studied as a "production platform" of novel pharmacological metabolites, the molecular mechanisms of plant-endophyte dynamics remain less understood/explored for their efficient utilization in drug discovery. The emerging trends in endophytic fungi-mediated biosynthesis of novel bioactive metabolites, success stories of key pharmacological metabolites, strategies to overcome the existing challenges in endophyte biology, and future direction in endophytic fungi-based drug discovery forms the underlying theme of this article.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms10020360