A review on the trends of endophytic fungi bioactivities

Abstract

Endophytic fungi are naturally found within plants' tissues and cause no detectable disease symptoms in the plant. However, it is believed to possess supporting ecological and physiological benefits for the plant. The fungi confer to their host plant profound resistance to various pathogenic, parasitic, and pest attach by augmenting the plant's growth rate and improving adaptability and tolerance to pests and pathogens. Furthermore, the relationships between fungal endophytes and their host plant help synthesise varieties of biologically important secondary metabolites. Many of these metabolites have shown antibiotic and pest-repellant properties. In contrast, others have imbued the plant's adaptive properties to withstand environmental stress such as drought, significant variation in temperature, salinity and heavy metal accumulation. In recent years, the interest in fungal endophytes has shifted to their propensity to produce new unique compounds with bioactive properties. These properties include anticancer, antimicrobials, immunosuppressant and antioxidant functions. These fungi could become the future of medicine, agriculture and industrialisation revolutions, based on all of the possible biochemical produced by endophytes.

Keywords

• Endophytes
• Bioactivities
• Biotic stress
• Endophytic metabolites
• Current trends