A critical review on exploiting the pharmaceutical potential of plant endophytic fungi

The escalating demand for secondary metabolites in international markets poses a severe threat to many plant species. An unscrupulous collection is also the immediate challenge to the survival of many unthreatened as well as vulnerable plants. Fungal endophytes have emerged in recent years as a promising substitute for sources of plant secondary metabolites. Many appealing secondary metabolites with potent antibacterial, antifungal, insecticidal, antioxidant, cytotoxic and anticancer properties have been discovered from endophytic fungi. Concerning their distinctive genetic and metabolic diversity and promising activities, they hold a plausible application in medicine and industry. However, there is little success in utilizing the pharmaceutical potential of fungal endophytes. Cutting-edge research is desirable to establish and bolster in vitro biosynthetic proficiency of fungal endophytes. Modern biotechnological techniques [such as multilocus sequence typing (MLST), metabolomics, metagenomics and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies] and bioinformatics approaches can fill a gap in fungal endophyte research. The present review focuses on how advanced chemical, biotechnological and computational molecular biology methods can be used for robust exploitation of bioactive compounds from these microorganisms.