Abstract
Endophytic fungi or endophytes exist widely inside the healthy tissues of living plants, and are important components of plant micro-ecosystems. Over the long period of evolution, some co-existing endophytes and their host plants have established a special relationship with one and another, which can significantly influence the formation of metabolic products in plants, then affect quality and quantity of crude drugs derived from medicinal plants. This paper will focus on the increasing knowledge of relationships between endophytic fungi and medicinal plants through reviewing of published research data obtained from the last 30 years. The analytical results indicate that the distribution and population structure of endophytes can be considerably affected by factors, such as the genetic background, age, and environmental conditions of their hosts. On the other hand, the endophytic fungi can also confer profound impacts on their host plants by enhancing their growth, increasing their fitness, strengthening their tolerances to abiotic and biotic stresses, and promoting their accumulation of secondary metabolites. All the changes are very important for the production of bioactive components in their hosts. Hence, it is essential to understand such relationships between endophytic fungi and their host medicinal plants. Such knowledge can be well exploited and applied for the production of better and more drugs from medicinal plants.
Highlights
It is widely considered in a conventional view that the quality and quantity of crude drugs originated from medicinal plants are largely affected by such factors as the genetic background of the concerned plants, ecological habitats where the plants live, and soil nutrients (Dai et al, 2003; Sherameti et al, 2005)
Results of the analyses indicated that the population structure or distribution pattern of endophytic fungi was significantly associated with the variation in environments, as well as the classification and genetic background of host plants (Table 1, Figure 1A)
The fungus-host relationships reveal that the distribution and population structure of endophytic fungi rely largely on the taxonomy, genetic background, age, and tissues of the host plants, in addition to the types of environments
Summary
Over the long period of evolution, some co-existing endophytes and their host plants have established a special relationship with one and another, which can significantly influence the formation of metabolic products in plants, affect quality and quantity of crude drugs derived from medicinal plants. This paper will focus on the increasing knowledge of relationships between endophytic fungi and medicinal plants through reviewing of published research data obtained from the last 30 years. All the changes are very important for the production of bioactive components in their hosts. It is essential to understand such relationships between endophytic fungi and their host medicinal plants. Such knowledge can be well exploited and applied for the production of better and more drugs from medicinal plants
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