Plant Bioactive Natural Products through Endophytic Fungal Interactions

One of the primary areas in drug discovery today is the exploration of natural sources such as medicinal plants to discover new bioactives that can contribute to the pharmaceutical industry. Endophytic fungi are being studied the most as microbial bio-factories to produce such bioactives because of their symbiotic associations with the host plants. Furthermore, the production of secondary metabolites is determined by their genetic makeup, environmental factors, and surrounding biota. Thus, the activation of gene clusters responsible for their production is not well deciphered in laboratory conditions. This inability to efficiently produce these bioactives in axenic conditions limits their potential applications in the commercial market. By gaining a deeper understanding of the regulatory mechanisms involved in gene expression, and their biosynthetic gene clusters, novel bioactives can be identified. The key challenge is to find ways to identify and activate the “silent” gene clusters responsible for their production. To explore the diverse range of endophytic fungal metabolites and uncover their hidden potential, a combination of diverse bioprospecting approaches and technologies such as culturing techniques, genome mining, ‘omics’ strategies, and genetic engineering may be necessary. In this chapter, we discussed the crosstalk between the host plant, its microbiome, and endophytic fungi that may influence the inhabitation and metabolite production in the endophytic fungi. Further, we elaborated on various scientific tools and advancements that can be utilized to fully leverage their potential.