Chapter 13 - Fungal strains as source of bioactive compounds and their potential application

Abstract

In this era, there is a continual search in pharmaceutical and agriculture fields for new, useful products. Microbes have recently focused on organisms synthesizing the useful natural compounds for pharmaceutical interests either independently or associated with host plant as an endophyte. Fungal microbes exist in a close bonding with host plants and have gained more attention due to their useful applications in various fields. Fungi are microbes existing on the entire Earth, including land and water habitats and producing natural secondary metabolites for human use. Fungi constitute a major group of microbes commonly found in plants and anthropogenic substratum, and also maintain a proximal association with their host plants as an endophyte. Their immense biological diversity, coupled with their ability to synthesize natural compounds, makes them vulnerable. There is a need to discover novel strategies to synthesize biologically active compounds for different uses to combat human diseases; methods should be sustainable, ecofriendly, and easy to get bioactive compounds useful for the field of new drug discovery. Several bioactive natural compounds are isolated from the different species of fungi, either independently or associated with plants. Endophytic, rhizospheric, marine, and terrestrial are the most promising habitats of fungi to obtain bioactive compounds. Many of the synthesized bioactive natural compounds are continuously used for the treatment of various severe and normal human diseases. This chapter gives a detailed account of the role of fungi for the synthesis of bioactive natural products and their uses for human welfare.