Natural Products from Endophytic Fungi: Synthesis and Applications

Abstract

Endophytic microorganisms inhabit plants without affecting the host physiological processes. Among the different groups of endophytic organisms, endophytic fungi remain the primary source of novel bioactive natural products with diverse chemical origins. However, the major drawback is that the majority of endophytic fungi are used in diversity studies irrespective of their potential biotechnological applications. Endophytic fungi represent an inexhaustible reservoir of novel bioactive metabolites with widespread applications and have attracted considerable interest in extensive exploration for the purpose of developing potential biomedical and agricultural applications. Endophytic fungi have an inherent property of mimicking plant-associated metabolic pathways (polyketide, shikimate, and mevalonate) for the synthesis of various bioactive metabolites independently of the host plant. Bioactive natural products from endophytic fungi are attracting considerable attention for exploiting their potential in multifaceted applications in the fields of agriculture, medicine, and pharmaceuticals. The natural products obtained from endophytic fungi have a profound importance in disease management against phytopathogens, since they control abiotic stress tolerance, and potential biomedical applications as antimicrobial, antimalarial, anticancer, antitumor, cytotoxic, anti-quorum sensing, and anti-biofilm agents. The role of fungal-derived metabolites in agricultural sector in increasing yields and maintaining product quality also lends a new dimension to its potential. The intervention of high-throughput strategies and metagenomic approaches to identify specific gene clusters in fungal endophytes for increased production of bioactive metabolites will provide novel avenues for current drug discovery programs for both the agricultural and healthcare sectors in the near future.