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General Characteristics of Endophytes and Bioprospecting Potential of Endophytic Fungi

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Advancements in Materials Science and Technology Led by Women

Part of the book series: Advanced Structured Materials ((STRUCTMAT,volume 165))

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Abstract

Endophytes are a group of microorganisms including fungi, actinomycetes, and bacteria that reside within plant tissues without causing apparent disease symptoms in host plants. These underexplored microorganisms are drawing attention as attractive sources of new compounds, due to their genetic diversity leading to structurally diverse secondary metabolites. In this regard, a balanced host–endophyte interaction plays a vital role in facilitating the endophytes to produce bioactive compounds along with mimicry of plant-based metabolites. Endophytic fungi are great resources of naturally derived drugs as they produce various groups of bioactive molecules including alkaloids, flavonoids, peptides, phenolics, quinines, steroids, and terpenoids. These compounds have been found to display broad-spectrum biological activities such as antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory. In this review, endophytes, their interactions with host plants are discussed and their mechanism of non-pathogenicity are also highlighted. The review also focuses on the therapeutic applications of metabolites derived from plant-associated endophytic fungi. It can be concluded that endophytes are the repository of bioactive metabolites. Therefore, more studies should be conducted on bioprospecting novel compounds from these potential resources.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Universiti Kuala Lumpur.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering Technology, Bioengineering Section, Lot 1988 Kawasan Perindustrian Bandar Vendor, Taboh Naning, 78000, Alor Gajah, Melaka, Malaysia

    Md Abu Taher, Woei-Yenn Tong, Chean Ring Leong & Syarifah Ab Rashid

  2. Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Institute of Medical Science Technology, A1-1, Jalan TKS 1, Taman Kajang Sentral, 43000, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Woei-Yenn Tong

  3. Chemistry Section, School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, Penang, Malaysia

    Wen-Nee Tan

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  1. Md Abu Taher
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  2. Woei-Yenn Tong
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  4. Syarifah Ab Rashid
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  5. Wen-Nee Tan
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Correspondence to Woei-Yenn Tong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Women Advancement and Leadership, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Marine Engineering Technology, Lumut, Perak, Malaysia

    Azman Ismail

  2. Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Machang, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Fatin Nur Zulkipli

  3. Centre for Women Advancement and Leadership, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Husna Sarirah Husin

  4. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Esslingen, Germany

    Andreas Öchsner

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Abu Taher, M., Tong, WY., Leong, C.R., Ab Rashid, S., Tan, WN. (2023). General Characteristics of Endophytes and Bioprospecting Potential of Endophytic Fungi. In: Ismail, A., Nur Zulkipli, F., Husin, H.S., Öchsner, A. (eds) Advancements in Materials Science and Technology Led by Women. Advanced Structured Materials, vol 165. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21959-7_4

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