Endophytic Fungi: A Remarkable Source of Biologically Active Secondary Metabolites

Author(s):  
Pamoda B. Ratnaweera ◽  
E. Dilip de Silva
PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9342
Author(s):  
Chao An ◽  
Saijian Ma ◽  
Xinwei Shi ◽  
Wenjiao Xue ◽  
Chen Liu ◽  
...  

Endophytic fungi have been emerged as fruitful resources for producing structurally fascinating and biologically active secondary metabolites. However, endophytic fungi from medicinal plants of Qinling Mountains–the most important natural climatic boundary between the subtropical and warm temperate zones of China with an astonishingly high level of biodiversity–have rarely been explored as potential sources of novel fungal species and active secondary metabolites. In this study, a total of 371 fungal colonies were successfully isolated from 510 tissue segments of the medicinal Tupistra chinensis Baker collected from Qinling Mountains, China. Roots of T. chinensis Baker are used as a folk medicine to ameliorate pharyngitis and treat rheumatic diseases. A total of 100 representative morphotype strains were identified according to ITS rDNA sequence analyses and were grouped into three phyla (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota), seven classes (Dothideomycetes, Sordariomycetes, Eurotiomycetes, Microbotryomycetes, Agaricomycetes, Leotiomycetes, Mortierellomycetes), and at least 35 genera. The genera of Collectotrichum (IF, 29.92%), Fusarium (IF, 8.36%), Aspergillus (IF, 8.09%), and Dactylonectria (IF, 5.39%) were most frequently isolated from the tissues of T. chinensis Baker. The Species Richness Index (S, 65) and the Shannon-Wiener Index (H′, 3.7914) indicated that T. chinensis Baker harbored abundant fungal resources. Moreover, five isolates were potential new taxa because of low similarity of ITS sequences ranged from 95.09%∼96.61%. Fifteen out of 100 endophytic fungal ethyl acetate extracts exhibited inhibitory activities against at least one pathogenic bacterium or fungus. Two important lead compounds produced by two stains (F8047 and F8075) with high antimicrobial activities were identified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–QTOF MS) analyses. In addition, it was noteworthy that the strain F8001, which may be a potential new species, showed antimicrobial activity and should be investigated further. Overall, these results indicated that the endophytic fungi from T. chinensis Baker could be exploited as a novel source of bioactive compounds.


2002 ◽  
Vol 106 (9) ◽  
pp. 996-1004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Schulz ◽  
Christine Boyle ◽  
Siegfried Draeger ◽  
Anne-Katrin Römmert ◽  
Karsten Krohn

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-111
Author(s):  
Peter M. Eze ◽  
Dominic O. Abonyi ◽  
Chika C. Abba ◽  
Peter Proksch ◽  
Festus B. C. Okoye ◽  
...  

Abstract Fungi remain a promising source of novel biologically active compounds with potentials in drug discovery and development. This study was aimed at investigating the secondary metabolites from endophytic Fusarium equiseti and Epicoccum sorghinum associated with leaves of Carica papaya collected from Agulu, Anambra State, Nigeria. Isolation of the endophytic fungi, taxonomic identification, fermentation, extraction and isolation of fungal secondary metabolites were carried out using standard procedures. Chromatographic separation and spectroscopic analyses of the fungal secondary metabolites yielded three toxigenic compounds - equisetin and its epimer 5’- epiequisetin from F. equiseti and tenuazonic acid from E. sorghinum These compounds are known to possess several beneficial biological properties that can be explored for pharmaceutical, agricultural or industrial purposes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 80-83
Author(s):  
Ogechukwu L. Nwankwo ◽  
Onwuzuluigbo C. Chukwuebuka ◽  
Okeke O. Collins ◽  
Bunu J. Samuel ◽  
Josephat C. Obasi ◽  
...  

Background information: The phytochemicals of endophytes have generated substantial interest in drug discovery programs because they offer the possibility of discovering new biologically active molecules. Objective: The objective of this study was to quantify and analyze the phytochemical profile of the fungus endophytic extracts isolated from Azadirachta indica leaves, which have been used ethnobotanically for treating malaria and bacterial infections. Methods: Endophytic fungi were isolated, solid-state fermentation of rice medium was performed, and secondary metabolites were extracted according to standard techniques. An analytical system that uses gas chromatography and flame ionization detection (GC-FID) was used to determine the phytochemical constituents contained in the endophytes. Results: The results of GC-FID analysis showed the presence of Ribalinidine, Naringenin, Sparteine, Phenol, Steroids, Kaempferol, Flavone, Oxalate, Catechin, Tannin, and Rutin at different concentrations. Conclusion: This study reveals the promising ability of the endophytic fungi of A. indica as a foundation of naturally occurring bioactive. The quantitative phytochemical assessment of the endophyte extracts from the leaves of A.indica showed that endophyte extracts from the plant are rich in both alkaloids and flavonoids (Phenolics). Keywords: GC-FID, Phytochemical, Endophytes, Secondary metabolites, Fermentation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 1836-1854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Ancheeva ◽  
Georgios Daletos ◽  
Peter Proksch

Background: Endophytes represent a complex community of microorganisms colonizing asymptomatically internal tissues of higher plants. Several reports have shown that endophytes enhance the fitness of their host plants by direct production of bioactive secondary metabolites, which are involved in protecting the host against herbivores and pathogenic microbes. In addition, it is increasingly apparent that endophytes are able to biosynthesize medicinally important “phytochemicals”, originally believed to be produced only by their host plants. Objective: The present review provides an overview of secondary metabolites from endophytic fungi with pronounced biological activities covering the literature between 2010 and 2017. Special focus is given on studies aiming at exploration of the mode of action of these metabolites towards the discovery of leads from endophytic fungi. Moreover, this review critically evaluates the potential of endophytic fungi as alternative sources of bioactive “plant metabolites”. Results: Over the past few years, several promising lead structures from endophytic fungi have been described in the literature. In this review, 65 metabolites are outlined with pronounced biological activities, primarily as antimicrobial and cytotoxic agents. Some of these metabolites have shown to be highly selective or to possess novel mechanisms of action, which hold great promises as potential drug candidates. Conclusion: Endophytes represent an inexhaustible reservoir of pharmacologically important compounds. Moreover, endophytic fungi could be exploited for the sustainable production of bioactive “plant metabolites” in the future. Towards this aim, further insights into the dynamic endophyte - host plant interactions and origin of endophytic fungal genes would be of utmost importance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulatu Yohannes Nanusha ◽  
Martin Krauss ◽  
Carina D. Schönsee ◽  
Barbara F. Günthardt ◽  
Thomas D. Bucheli ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Substantial efforts have been made to monitor potentially hazardous anthropogenic contaminants in surface waters while for plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) almost no data on occurrence in the water cycle are available. These metabolites enter river waters through various pathways such as leaching, surface run-off and rain sewers or input of litter from vegetation and might add to the biological activity of the chemical mixture. To reduce this data gap, we conducted a LC–HRMS target screening in river waters from two different catchments for 150 plant metabolites which were selected from a larger database considering their expected abundance in the vegetation, their potential mobility, persistence and toxicity in the water cycle and commercial availability of standards. Results The screening revealed the presence of 12 out of 150 possibly toxic PSMs including coumarins (bergapten, scopoletin, fraxidin, esculetin and psoralen), a flavonoid (formononetin) and alkaloids (lycorine and narciclasine). The compounds narciclasine and lycorine were detected at concentrations up to 3 µg/L while esculetin and fraxidin occurred at concentrations above 1 µg/L. Nine compounds occurred at concentrations above 0.1 µg/L, the Threshold for Toxicological Concern (TTC) for non-genotoxic and non-endocrine disrupting chemicals in drinking water. Conclusions Our study provides an overview of potentially biologically active PSMs in surface waters and recommends their consideration in monitoring and risk assessment of water resources. This is currently hampered by a lack of effect data including toxicity to aquatic organisms, endocrine disruption and genotoxicity and demands for involvement of these compounds in biotesting.


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