Biodiversity and biotechnological potential of mangrove-associated fungi

Abstract

This review describes the present hot research areas of mangrove-associated fungi, including its biodiversity, ecological roles, novel metabolites productions and biotechnological potential. Mangrove-associated fungi were divided into saprophytic, parasitic and true symbiotic fungi based on its ecological roles. Saprophytic fungi are fundamental to decomposition and energy flow of mangrove, additionally, their potential toxicity also exists. Pathogenic fungi have significant effects on mangrove survival, growth, and fitness. Endophytic fungi, the most prolific source of diverse bioactive compounds found among that of mangrove-associated fungi, are found in most species of mangroves. Although a significant number of reports focused on the antimicrobial, insecticidal and other bioactive metabolites as well as many novel enzymes isolated from mangrove-associated fungi, and many of those metabolites from endophytic fungi are suspected to be of significant to mangrove, only few studies have provided convincing evidence for symbiotic producers in mangrove. Hence, this paper discusses the present progress of molecular methods used to correlate the ecological roles of endophytic fungi with their bioactive metabolites;, meanwhile, the potential of using metabolic engineering and post-genomic approaches to isolate more novel enzymes and bioactive compounds and to make their possible commercial application was also discussed.