HARNESSING THE POTENTIAL OF NOVEL BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS PRODUCED BY ENDOPHYTIC Phoma spp. – BIOMEDICAL AND AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Endophytes are those inhabiting in plants without causing any apparent loss to the host plant. Phoma is a ubiquitously found genus of fungi in soil, water and air. Endophytic Phoma spp. are distributed with high specific diversity, those occur in plants and are mainly responsible for the production of a vast range of secondary metabolites. These secondary metabolites or the bioactive compounds have demonstrated a wide range of activity ranging from antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, algicidal, cytotoxic, antitubercular and plant growth promoting, etc. Bioactive compounds are produced by Phoma herbarum, P. sorghina, P. exigua, P. macrostoma, P. medicaginis, P. betae, P. tropica and others. The present review emphasizes on different species of endophytic Phoma as novel source of bioactive compounds, and their applications in medicine and agriculture are documented.

Keywords

• endophytes
• Phoma
• secondary metabolites
• bioactive compounds
• antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities