Abstract
Among the various plant-associated microbiota, endophytes (the microbial communities inhabiting plant endosphere without causing disease symptoms) exhibit the most intimate and specific association with host plants. Endophytic microbes influence various aspects of plant responses (such as increasing availability of nutrients, tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses, etc.) by modulating the primary and secondary metabolism of the host. Besides, endophytic microbes produce a diverse array of bioactive compounds, which have potential applications in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries. Further, there is sufficient evidence for endophyte-derived plant metabolites, which could be pursued as alternative sources of commercially important plant metabolites. The field of bioprospecting, the discovery of novel chemistries, and endophyte-mediated production of plant metabolites have witnessed a boom with the advent of omics technologies (especially metabolomics) in endophyte research. The high throughput study of small metabolites at a particular timepoint or tissue forms the core of metabolomics. Being downstream to transcriptome and proteome, the metabolome provides the most direct reflection of the phenotype of an organism. The contribution of plant and microbial metabolomics for answering fundamental questions of plant-endophyte interaction, such as the effect of endophyte inoculation on plant metabolome, composition of metabolites on the impact of environmental stressors (biotic and abiotic), etc., have also been discussed.
Highlights
Bioactive compounds are metabolites that affect one or more metabolic processes, resulting in the improvement of health conditions (Angiolillo et al, 2015)
This review focuses on the application of metabolomic techniques in endophyte research for the identification of economically important compounds, the discovery of novel metabolites, and offering insights into the functional role of endophytes in plant holobiont, but before that, a brief account of the technique is presented
Using mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics, the group reported the production of seven metabolites with anticancerous and/or antitrypanosomal properties from the fermentation culture of Aspergillus flocculus, an endophyte isolated from the stem of Markhamia platycalyx (Tawfike et al, 2019)
Summary
Bioactive compounds are metabolites that affect one or more metabolic processes, resulting in the improvement of health conditions (Angiolillo et al, 2015). The ability of endophytes, especially fungi and actinomycetes, to produce a plethora of bioactive compounds (Supplementary Table 1) could be attributed to various reasons: chemical defense of plants due to their long term association (reported from fossil plants as well), interaction with co-occurring microbes, and protection of their niche (within plant endosphere) against attacking pathogen species (Krings et al, 2007; Kusari et al, 2014a; Mishra et al, 2021a).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
