Endophytic fungi or endophytes exist widely inside the healthy tissues of living plants, and are important components of plant micro-ecosystems Over the long period of evolution, some co-existing endophytes and their host plants have established a special relationship with one and another, which can significantly influence the formation of metabolic products in plants, then affect quality and quantity of crude drugs derived from medicinal plants This paper will focus on the increasing knowledge of relationships between endophytic fungi and medicinal plants through reviewing of published research data obtained from the last 30 years The analytical results indicate that the distribution and population structure of endophytes can be considerably affected by factors, such as the genetic background, age, and environmental conditions of their hosts On the other hand, the endophytic fungi can also confer profound impacts on their host plants by enhancing their growth, increasing their fitness, strengthening their tolerances to abiotic and biotic stresses, and promoting their accumulation of secondary metabolites All the changes are very important for the production of bioactive components in their hosts Hence, it is essential to understand such relationships between endophytic fungi and their host medicinal plants Such knowledge can be well exploited and applied for the production of better and more drugs from medicinal plants

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A Friendly Relationship between Endophytic Fungi and Medicinal Plants: A Systematic Review.

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

In a natural ecosystem, the plant is in a symbiotic relationship with beneficial endophytes contributing huge impact on its host plant. Therefore, exploring beneficial endophytes and understanding its interaction is a prospective area of research. The present work aims to characterize the fungal endophytic communities associated with healthy maize and rice plants and to study the deterministic factors influencing plant growth and biocontrol properties against phytopathogens, viz, Pythium ultimum, Sclerotium oryzae, Rhizoctonia solani, and Pyricularia oryzae. A total of 123 endophytic fungi was isolated using the culture-dependent approach from different tissue parts of the plant. Most dominating fungal endophyte associated with both the crops belong to genus Fusarium, Sarocladium, Aspergillus, and Penicillium and their occurrence was not tissue specific. The isolates were screened for in vitro plant growth promotion, stress tolerance, disease suppressive mechanisms and based on the results, each culture from both the cereal crops was selected for further study. Acremonium sp. (ENF 31) and Penicillium simplicisssum (ENF22), isolated from maize and rice respectively could potentially inhibit the growth of all the tested pathogens with 46.47 ± 0.16 mm to 60.09 ± 0.04 mm range zone of inhibition for ENF31 and 35.48 ± 0.14 to 62.29 ± 0.15 mm for ENF22. Both significantly produce the defensive enzymes, ENF31 could tolerate a wide range of pH from 2 to 12, very important criteria, for studying plant growth in different soil types, especially acidic as it is widely prevalent here, making more land unsuitable for cultivation. ENF22 grows in pH range 3-12, with 10% salt tolerating ability, another factor of consideration. Study of root colonization during 7th to 30th days of growth phase reveals that ENF31 could colonize pleasantly in rice, though a maize origin, ranging from 1.02 to 1.21 log10 CFU/g root and in maize, it steadily colonizes ranging from 0.95 to 1.18 log10 CFU, while ENF22 could colonize from 0.98 to 1.24 Log10CFU/g root in rice and 1.01 to 1.24Log10CFU/g root in maize, just the reverse observed in Acremonium sp. Therefore, both the organism has the potency of a promising Bio-resource agent, that we must definitely explore to fill the gap in the agriculture industry.

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Functional Characterization of Endophytic Fungal Community Associated with Oryza sativa L. and Zea mays L.

It is known that plant-based ethnomedicine represented the foundation of modern pharmacology and that many pharmaceuticals are derived from compounds occurring in plant extracts. This track still stimulates a worldwide investigational activity aimed at identifying novel bioactive products of plant origin. However, the discovery that endophytic fungi are able to produce many plant-derived drugs has disclosed new horizons for their availability and production on a large scale by the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, following the path traced by the blockbuster drug taxol, an increasing number of valuable compounds originally characterized as secondary metabolites of plant species belonging to the Spermatophyta have been reported as fermentation products of endophytic fungal strains. Aspects concerning sources and bioactive properties of these compounds are reviewed in this paper.

Plant Bioactive Metabolites and Drugs Produced by Endophytic Fungi of Spermatophyta

Sequential extraction, characterization and antioxidant activity of polysaccharides from Fritillaria pallidiflora Schrenk

The invention discloses bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae endophytic fungi CBY4 and application thereof. The bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae endophytic fungi CBY4 are separated from the living bulbs of bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae which belongs to fritillary in liliaceae by adopting a tissue-block separation and purification technology. The morphological identification and the molecular biological identification prove that the bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae endophytic fungi CBY4 are fusarfum tricinctum which belongs to fusarium. The bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae endophytic fungi CBY4 was collected in China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center (CGMCC) with the collection number of CGMCC NO. 9719 and the serial number of CBY4 on October 11, 2014. Fritillaria alkaloids including peimisine and peiminine are generated due to the liquid fermentation of the bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae endophytic fungi CBY4. The bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae endophytic fungi CBY4 are important microorganisms for searching major alkaloids of peimisine and peiminine which come from fritillary and serve as new resources.

Bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae endophytic fungi CBY4 and application thereof

The invention discloses Fritillaria wabuensis endophytic fungi WBS003 and application thereof, the Fritillaria wabuensis endophytic fungi WBS003 is obtained by separation from plants live bulbs of lily family fritillary plant Fritillaria wabuensis by tissue block separation and purification technology, by morphological and molecular biological identification, the Fritillaria wabuensis endophytic fungi WBS003 is identified as cryphonectria nectria haematococca. The strain is preserved in CCCCM (China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center) on 25 November 2014, the preservation number is CGMCC NO.10103, and the strain number is WBS003. By liquid fermentation of the Fritillaria wabuensis endophytic fungi WBS003, broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of the Fritillaria wabuensis endophytic fungi WBS003 on staphylococcus aureus, pseudomonas aeruginosa and other bacteria, corn helminthosporium maydis, tobacco alternaria alternate, Chinese herbaceous peony colletotrichum orbiculare and other pathogenic fungus can be found, the Fritillaria wabuensis endophytic fungi WBS003 is an important microorganism for search of new resources of fritillary plant antibiotic active substances, and provides a new way for screening of natural antimicrobial drugs.

Fritillaria wabuensis endophytic fungi WBS003 and application thereof

Background Growing evidence has indicated that epigenetic factors might be associated with the pathophysiology of idiopathic nonobstructive azoospermia (iNOA). As the most common RNA modification, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation has recently attracted more attention in the regulation of spermatogenesis; however, its role in the mechanisms of iNOA is still unclear. Objective To determine the differential expression of mRNA and m6A methylation status in the testes of iNOA patients. Methods Testes tissues from diagnosed iNOA and controlled obstructive azoospermia (OA) patients were collected and grouped according to the histological examinations. Total RNA was isolated and quantified by an m6A RNA Methylation Quantification Kit. The expression level of mRNAs was detected by qRT-PCR analysis. Differentially expressed m6A genes were analyzed using the human ArrayStar m6A epitranscriptomic microarray, and bioinformatics analyses were applied. Results A total of 36 iNOA and 8 controlled patients were included. The global expression of m6A in the iNOA group was significantly decreased. A dosage relationship was observed between the m6A decline and the degree of impaired spermatogenesis, with the successive process of normal spermatogeneis, hypospermatogenesis (HP), maturation arrest (MA), and Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SO). Four down-expressed genes (BDNF, TMEM38B, RPL3L, and C22orf42) displayed significantly lower expression of m6A methylation. Additionally, they also showed a gradually down-expressed tendency in the three groups (OA, HP, SO/MA groups). Moreover, m6A reader EIF3A was approved to have differential expression through microarrays analysis, which was consistent with the result from the qRT-PCR test. Conclusions The m6A expression was gradually downregulated in the testes tissue from iNOA patients in accordance with the degree of spermatogenic dysfunction. The determined differential expression of mRNA and m6A methylation status may represent potentially novel molecular targets for the mechanism study of iNOA in the epigenetic level, which could benefit the understanding of the pathophysiology of iNOA.

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Feng Pan

Papers

Bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae endophytic fungi CBY4 and application thereof

Fritillaria wabuensis endophytic fungi WBS003 and application thereof

Joint analysis of m6A and mRNA expression profiles in the testes of idiopathic nonobstructive azoospermia patients