Abstract
Endophytic fungi, which are known to inhabit all plants in any surrounding, have been established solidly as luxuriant producers of secondary metabolites and a propitious origin of bioactive compounds with many applications pharmaceutically, agriculturally and industrially. Sri Lanka, a tropical island rightfully recognized as part of the 34 biodiversity hotspots in the world, is home to a plethora of endophytic species. Its unique environmental settings, such as rainforests and mangroves, have thus sparked interest in the minds of scientists to pursue this field of research in order to understand the full potential of these microorganisms being inhabited. The emphasis of this chapter lies on the novel metabolites isolated from endophytic fungi of Sri Lanka and their bioactivities in terms of therapeutic and agricultural aspects. Many of them have exhibited potent bioactivities and could definitely be utilized in the establishment of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. The current challenges faced with respect to ongoing studies related to this subject and ways to overcome them in future have been suggested. Attempts to change the monotonous pattern of determining the same type of bioactivities of compounds are encouraged, thereby digging up hidden secrets to favour the advancement of medicine, industries and agriculture.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Akhtar Y, Isman MB, Niehaus LA (2012) Antifeedant and toxic effects of naturally occurring and synthetic quinones to the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni. Crop Prot 31:8–14
Atugala DM, Deshappriya N (2015) Effect of endophytic fungi on plant growth and blast disease incidence of two traditional rice varieties. J Natl Sci Found Sri Lanka 43:173–187
Bandara WMMS, Seneviratne G, Kulasooriya SA (2006) Interactions among endophytic bacteria and fungi: effects and potentials. J Biosci 31:645–650
Bandara HMSKH, Kumar NS, Jayasinghe L (2015) A 3-vinyl cephem derivative, a useful intermediate in the synthesis of cepham antibiotics, from Aspergillus awamori associated with banana fruit. Nat Prod Commun 10:1663–1666
Bandaranayake WM (2002) Bioactivities, bioactive compounds and chemical constituents of mangrove plants. Wetl Ecol Manag 10:421–452
Bode HB, Bethe B, Höfs R, Zeeck A (2002) Big effects from small changes: possible ways to explore nature’s chemical diversity. Chembiochem 3:619–627
Brian PW, Mcgowan JC (1945) Viridin: a highly fungistatic substance produced by Trichoderma viride [5]. Nature 156:144–145
Centko RM, Ratnaweera PB, Tysoe C (2017) Alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase inhibiting thiodiketopiperazines from the endophytic fungus Setosphaeria rostrata isolated from the medicinal plant Costus speciosus in Sri Lanka. Phytochem Lett 22:76–80
Chen H, Daletos G, Abdel-Aziz MS (2015) Inducing secondary metabolite production by the soil-dwelling fungus Aspergillus terreus through bacterial co-culture. Phytochem Lett 12:35–41
Choudhary MI, Musharraf SG, Mukhmoor T et al (2004) Isolation of bioactive compounds from Aspergillus terreus. Z Naturforsch 59:324–328
Chowdhary K, Kaushik N, Coloma AG, Raimundo CM (2012) Endophytic fungi and their metabolites isolated from Indian medicinal plant. Phytochem Rev 11:467–485
Debbab A, Aly AH, Proksch P (2013) Mangrove derived fungal endophytes—a chemical and biological perception. Fungal Divers 61:1–27
Desale MG, Bodhankar MG (2013) Antimicrobial activity of endophytic fungi isolated from Vitex negundo Linn. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci 2:389–395
Dissanayake RK, Ratnaweera PB, Williams DE (2016a) Antimicrobial activities of endophytic fungi of the Sri Lankan aquatic plant Nymphaea nouchali and chaetoglobosin A and C, produced by the endophytic fungus Chaetomium globosum. Mycology 7:1–8
Dissanayake RK, Ratnaweera PB, Williams DE (2016b) Antimicrobial activities of mycoleptodiscin B isolated from endophytic fungus Mycoleptodiscus sp. of Calamus thwaitesii Becc. J Appl Pharm Sci 6:1–6
Doty SL (2017) Functional importance of the plant microbiome: implications for agriculture, forestry and bioenergy. Springer, Cham, pp 1–111
Fernandes EG, Pereira OL, da Silva CC (2015) Diversity of endophytic fungi in Glycine max. Microbiol Res 181:84–92
Gangadevi V, Muthumary J (2008) Isolation of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, a novel endophytic taxol-producing fungus from the leaves of a medicinal plant, Justicia gendarussa. Mycol Balc 5:1–4
Gil TR, Mittermeier RA, Hoffmann M et al (2004) Hotspots revisited. Cemex, Mexico City
Gunatilaka AAL (2006) Natural products from plant-associated microorganisms: distribution, structural diversity, bioactivity, and implications of their occurrence. J Nat Prod 69:509–526
Gunatilleke N, Pethiyagoda R, Gunatilleke S (2008) Biodiversity of Sri Lanka. J Natl Sci Found Sri Lanka 36:25–61
Guo B, Wang Y, Sun X, Tang K (2008) Bioactive natural products from endophytes: a review. Prikl Biokhim Mikrobiol 44:153–158
Haroon MH, Premaratne SR, Choudhry MI, Dharmaratne HRW (2013) A new β-glucuronidase inhibiting butyrolactone from the marine endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus. Nat Prod Res 27:1060–1066
Huang SP, Koyama Y, Ikeda D (1992) Synthesis and activity of potent 3-(isoxazolidin-5-yl)- and 3-(isoxazolidinium-5-yl) cephalosporins. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 45:1939–1948
Jalgaonwala RE, Mohite BV, Mahajan RT (2011) A review: natural products from plant associated endophytic fungi. J Microbiol Biotechnol Res 1:21–32
Jayasinghearachchi HS, Seneviratne G (2010) A mushroom-fungus helps improve endophytic colonization of tomato by Pseudomonas fluorescens through biofilm formation. Res J Microbiol 5:689–695
Jayasundara JMNM, Ratnweera PB, De Silva ED (2019) A comparison of richness, diversity and antibacterial producing capacity of endophytic fungi of Cyperus iria from three geographical locations in Sri Lanka. In: International research conference 2019. Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, Badulla
Ji SH, Paul NC, Deng JX (2013) Biocontrol activity of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens CNU114001 against fungal plant diseases. Mycobiology 41:234–242
Jones RW, Lanini WT, Hancock JG (1988) Plant growth response to the phytotoxin viridiol produced by the fungus Gliocladium virens. Weed Sci 36:683–687
Kannangara S, Ambadeniya P, Undugoda L, Abeywickrama K (2016) Polyaromatic hydrocarbon degradation of moss endophytic fungi isolated from Macromitrium sp. in Sri Lanka. J Agric Sci Technol A 6:171–182
Karmakar R, Kumar S, Prakash HS (2013) Fungal endophytes from Garcinia species. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 5:889–897
Khan AL, Hussain J, Al-Harrasi A (2015) Endophytic fungi: resource for gibberellins and crop abiotic stress resistance. Crit Rev Biotechnol 35:62–74
Koralagama D (2008) Community perception towards a setback area: a case study in Galle district, Sri Lanka. In: IIFET 2008 Vietnam Proc, vol 2, pp 1–11
Li MY, Xiao Q, Pan JY, Wu J (2009) Natural products from semi-mangrove flora: source, chemistry and bioactivities. Nat Prod Rep 26:281–298
Ling LL, Schneider T, Peoples AJ (2015) A new antibiotic kills pathogens without detectable resistance. Nature 517:455–459
Liu W, Chen S, Li J (2019) A new β-tetralonyl glucoside from the Santalum album derived endophytic fungus Colletotrichum sp. GDMU-1. Nat Prod Res 33:354–359
Loiseleur O (2017) Natural products in the discovery of agrochemicals. Chimia (Aarau) 71:810–822
Malik S, Cusidó RM, Mirjalili MH (2011) Production of the anticancer drug taxol in Taxus baccata suspension cultures: a review. Process Biochem 46:23–34
Munasinghe MVK, Kumar NS, Jayasinghe L, Fujimoto Y (2017) Indole-3-acetic acid production by Colletotrichum siamense, an endophytic fungus from Piper nigrum leaves. J Biol Active Prod Nat 7:475–479
Naik SB, Krishnamurthy YL (2010) Endophytes: the real untapped high energy biofuel resource. Curr Sci 98:883
Nong XH, Wang YF, Zhang XY (2014) Territrem and butyrolactone derivatives from a marine-derived fungus aspergillus terreus. Mar Drugs 12:6113–6124
Pang KL, Vrijmoed LLP, Khiang Goh T (2008) Fungal endophytes associated with Kandelia candel (Rhizophoraceae) in Mai Po Nature Reserve, Hong Kong. Bot Mar 51:171–178
Paranagama PA, Wijeratne EMK, Gunatilaka AAL (2007) Uncovering biosynthetic potential of plant-associated fungi: effect of culture conditions on metabolite production by Paraphaeosphaeria quadriseptata and Chaetomium chiversii. J Nat Prod 70:1939–1945
Petrini O (1991) Tree leaves. In: Microbial ecology of leaves. Springer, New York, pp 179–180
Phuwapraisirisan P, Rangsan J, Siripong P, Tip-Pyang S (2006) 9-epi-viridiol, a novel cytotoxic furanosteroid from soil fungus Trichoderma virens. Nat Prod Res 20:1321–1325
Piyasena KGNP, Wickramarachchi WART, Kumar NS (2015) Two phytotoxic azaphilone derivatives from Chaetomium globosum, a fungal endophyte isolated from Amaranthus viridis leaves. Mycology 6:158–160
Puri SG, Verma V, Amna T (2005) An endophytic fungus from Nothapodytes foetida that produces camptothecin. J Nat Prod 68:1717–1719
Qader MM, Kumar NS, Jayasinghe L (2017) Bioactive sesquiterpenes from an endophytic fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana isolated from a popular medicinal plant Costus speciosus. Mycology 8:17–20
Radić N, Štrukelj B (2012) Endophytic fungi—the treasure chest of antibacterial substances. Phytomedicine 19:1270–1284
Rana KL, Kour D, Sheikh I (2019) Endophytic fungi: biodiversity, ecological significance, and potential industrial applications. In: Yadav AN, Mishra S, Singh S, Gupta A (eds) Recent advancement in white biotechnology through fungi. Springer, Cham, pp. 303–361
Rani A, Sulakshana G, Patnaik S (2012) Costus speciosus, an antidiabetic plant-review. FS J Pharma Res 1:52–53
Rania ABA, Jabnoun-Khiareddine H, Nefzi A (2016) Endophytic bacteria from Datura metel for plant growth promotion and bioprotection against Fusarium wilt in tomato. Biocontrol Sci Technol 26:1139–1165
Rathnayake GRN, Kumar NS, Jayasinghe L (2018) Chemical investigation of metabolites produced by an endophytic fungi Phialemonium curvatum from the leaves of Passiflora edulis. Nat Prod Res 32:2483–2486
Ratnaweera PB, De Silva ED, Wijesundera RLC (2013) Antibacterial activities of endophytic fungi isolated from mangrove plants in the Negombo lagoon, Sri Lanka. In: Annual research symposium. University of Colombo, Colombo, p 171
Ratnaweera PB, Williams DE, de Silva ED (2014) Helvolic acid, an antibacterial nortriterpenoid from a fungal endophyte, Xylaria sp. of orchid Anoectochilus setaceus endemic to Sri Lanka. Mycology 5:23–28
Ratnaweera PB, de Silva ED, Williams DE, Andersen RJ (2015) Antimicrobial activities of endophytic fungi obtained from the arid zone invasive plant Opuntia dillenii and the isolation of equisetin, from endophytic Fusarium sp. BMC Complement Altern Med 15:220
Ratnaweera PB, de Silva ED, Wijesundera RLC, Andersen RJ (2016) Antimicrobial constituents of Hypocrea virens, an endophyte of the mangrove-associate plant Premna serratifolia L. J Natl Sci Found Sri Lanka 44:43–51
Ratnaweera PB, Chandula Walgama R, Jayasundera KU (2018) Antibacterial activities of endophytic fungi isolated from six Sri Lankan plants of the family cyperaceae. Bangladesh J Pharmacol 13:264–272
Ratnaweera PB, Jayasundara JMN, Herath HHMSD (2020) Antifeedant, contact toxicity and oviposition deterrent effects of phyllostine acetate and phyllostine isolated from the endophytic fungus Diaporthe miriciae against Plutella xylostella larvae. Pest Manag Sci 76:1541–1548
Roopa G, Madhusudhan MC, Sunil KCR (2015) Identification of Taxol-producing endophytic fungi isolated from Salacia oblonga through genomic mining approach. J Genet Eng Biotechnol 13:119–127
Sarasan M, Puthumana J, Job N (2017) Marine algicolous endophytic fungi—a promising drug resource of the era. J Microbiol Biotechnol 27:1039–1052
Schulz B, Boyle C (2005) The endophytic continuum. Mycol Res 109:661–686
Singh SB, Zink DL, Goetz MA (1998) Equisetin and a novel opposite stereochemical homolog phomasetin, two fungal metabolites as inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase. Tetrahedron Lett 39:2243–2246
Singh VK, Dwivedy AK, Singh A (2018) Fungal endophytes from seaweeds: an overview. Microb Biotechnol 2:483–498
Siriwardane AMDA, Kumar NS, Jayasinghe L, Fujimoto Y (2015) Chemical investigation of metabolites produced by an endophytic Aspergillus sp. isolated from Limonia acidissima. Nat Prod Res 29:1384–1387
Staniek A, Woerdenbag HJ, Kayser O (2008) Endophytes: exploiting biodiversity for the improvement of natural product-based drug discovery. J Plant Interact 3:75–93
Stierle A, Strobel G, Stierle D (1993) Taxol and taxane production by Taxomyces andreanae, an endop. Science 260:214–216
Stokstad E (2016) The nitrogen fix. Science 353:1225–1227
Strobel GA (2002a) Symposium contribution. Microbial gifts from rain forests 1, vol 20, pp 14–20
Strobel GA (2002b) Rainforest endophytes and bioactive products. Crit Rev Biotechnol 22:315–333
Strobel GA (2003) Endophytes as sources of bioactive products. Microbes Infect 5:535–544
Strobel G, Daisy B (2003) Bioprospecting for microbial endophytes and their natural products. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 67:491–502
Strobel G, Daisy B, Castillo U, Harper J (2004) Natural products from endophytic microorganisms. J Nat Prod 67:257–268
Tapwal A (2016) Antimycotic activity and phytochemical screening of fungal endophytes associated with Santalum album. Nusant Biosci 8:14–17
Thanabalasingam D, Kumar NS, Jayasinghe L, Fujimoto Y (2015) Endophytic fungus Nigrospora oryzae from a medicinal plant Coccinia grandis, a high yielding new source of phenazine-1-carboxamide. Nat Prod Commun 10:1659–1660
Ting ASY, Mah SW, Tee CS (2010) Identification of volatile metabolites from fungal endophytes with biocontrol potential towards Fusarium oxysporum F. sp. cubense race 4. Am J Agric Biol Sci 5:177–182
Traving SJ, Thygesen UH, Riemann L, Stedmon CA (2015) A model of extracellular enzymes in free-living microbes: which strategy pays off? Appl Environ Microbiol 81:7385–7393
Verma VC, Lobkovsky E, Gange AC (2011) Piperine production by endophytic fungus Periconia sp. isolated from Piper longum L. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 64:427–431
Wang Y, Zeng QG, Zhang ZB (2011) Isolation and characterization of endophytic huperzine A-producing fungi from Huperzia serrata. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 38:1267–1278
Weeraratne WAPG, De Costa DM (2018) Molecular identification of Fusarium spp. from wilt-infected tomato and brinjal plants in selected regions of Sri Lanka and endophytic bacteria as a potential option for disease management. Trop Agric Res 30:32–43
Wijesooriya WADK, Deshappriya N (2016) An inoculum of endophytic fungi for improved growth of a traditional ricevariety in Sri Lanka. Trop Plant Res 3:470–480
Zhang HW, Song YC, Tan RX (2006) Biology and chemistry of endophytes. Nat Prod Rep 23:753–771
Zhao J, Zhou L, Wang J, et al (2010) Endophytic fungi for producing bioactive compounds originally from their host plants, 2nd edn. Formatex Research Center, Badajoz, Spain, pp 567–576
Zhou XM, Zheng CJ, Song XP (2014) Antibacterial α-pyrone derivatives from a mangrove-derived fungus Stemphylium sp. 33231 from the South China Sea. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 67:401–403
Zhou M, Du G, Yang HY (2015) Antiviral butyrolactones from the endophytic fungus aspergillus versicolor. Planta Med 81:235–240
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Alwis, Y.V., Wethalawe, A.N., Udukala, D.N., Paranagama, P.A. (2021). Endophytic Microflora of Sri Lankan Plants: An Overview of the Therapeutic and Agricultural Applications of the Secondary Metabolites. In: Patil, R.H., Maheshwari, V.L. (eds) Endophytes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9371-0_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9371-0_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-9370-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-9371-0
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)