Most antiretroviral drugs currently in use to treat an HIV-1 infection are chemically synthesized and lead to the development of viral resistance, as well as cause severe toxicities. However, a largely unexplored source for HIV-1 drug discovery is endophytic fungi that live in a symbiotic relationship with plants. These fungi produce biologically active secondary metabolites, which are natural ...

In the past two decades, a great deal of information on the role of endophytic microorganisms in nature has been collected. The capability of colonizing internal host tissues has made endophytes valuable for agriculture as a tool to improve crop performance. In this review, we addressed the major topics concerning the control of insects-pests by endophytic microorganisms. Several examples of in...

Article history: Received on: 15/03/2013 Revised on: 12/04/2013 Accepted on: 25/04/2013 Available online: 12/05/2013 To study endophytic fungi associated with two plant species used as ethno-medicines by aboriginal tribes of Similipal Biosphere Reserve and evaluation for their antimicrobial potentials against some clinically significant human pathogens. A total of 458 endophytic isolates were o...

During the study on endophytic fungi of stone fruits including apricot, peach and nectarine in W Azarbaijan (NW Iran), a large number of isolates with Alternaria characteristics were isolated from different parts of these plants and studied taxonomically. Isolation was made based on endophytic fungal isolation method and following surface sterilization procedure. From 100 different plant sample...

Marine algal-derived endophytic fungi have attracted considerable attention in the most recent two decades due to their prolific production of structurally diverse secondary metabolites with various biological activities. This review summarizes a total of 182 natural products isolated from marine algal-derived endophytic fungi in the past two decades. The emphasis is on the unique chemical dive...

We isolated and examined two endophytic fungi for their potential to secrete phytohormones viz. gibberellins (GAs) and indoleacetic acid (IAA) and mitigate abiotic stresses like salinity and drought. The endophytic fungi Phoma glomerata LWL2 and Penicillium sp. LWL3 significantly promoted the shoot and allied growth attributes of GAs-deficient dwarf mutant Waito-C and Dongjin-beyo rice. Analysi...

The microbial transformation of four Cinchona alkaloids (quinine, quinidine, cinchonidine, and cinchonine) by endophytic fungi isolated from Cinchona pubescens was investigated. The endophytic filamentous fungus Xylaria sp. was found to transform the Cinchona alkaloids into their 1-N-oxide derivatives.

Endophytes from Cephalotaxus hainanensis Li, an important source of anti-leukemia drugs, have not been widely explored. In this study, 265 endophytic fungal isolates from C. hainanensis Li were screened for antimicrobial activities against tilapia, banana, rice, and rape and for antitumor activities against human leukemia cell lines (K562, NB4, and HL-60). Diversity was also analyzed. The resul...

Two new species of endophytic fungi were encountered during a diversity study of healthy tissues of chili pepper plants in Korea. The species were identified as Paecilomyces inflatus and Bionectria ochroleuca based on molecular and morphological analyses. Morphological descriptions of these endophytic isolates matched well with their molecular analysis. In the present study, detailed descriptio...

While Hymenoscyphus fraxineus causes dieback of the European ash (Fraxinus excelsior), flowering ash (F. ornus) appears resistant to the pathogen. To date, contributions of endophytic fungi to host resistance are unknown. The following hypotheses were tested: (i) endophytic fungi enhance the resistance of F. excelsior to the pathogen; (ii) resistance of F. ornus relies on its community of endop...