Chapter 10
Endophytes: Potential Source
of Therapeutically Important Secondary
Metabolites of Plant Origin
Shahid Iqbal Mohammed, Mohini Panditrao Patil,
Ravindra Himmatrao Patil and Vijay Laxminarayan Maheshwari
Abstract Use of plants and plant-derived metabolites for human health and
well-being is as old as human civilization. The plant kingdom contains an estimated
400,000–500,000 different species and each plant produces a number of secondary
metabolites which enables them to withstand various biotic and abiotic stresses. The
plant secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, steroids,flavonoids, terpenoids, etc.,
are known to have a number of biological activities. Moreover, because of their
natural origin, the plant-derived metabolites are increasingly preferred for thera-
peutic applications all over the world. However, the overharvesting of plants for
biologically active secondary metabolites is rapidly diminishing the valuable trea-
sure of medicinal plants. Endophytes are the microbial symbionts which live in the
internal tissues of plants and mimic the chemistry of the host plant. Because of their
huge diversity and ability to produce a range of metabolites similar to host plant,
they have attracted significant attention of scientific community all over the world.
The plant- and endophyte-derived metabolites which have attracted sufficient
research in last decade include compounds with antioxidant, antihypercholes-
terolemic, antidiabetic, and anticancer activities. The present article reviews the
current state of research on biologically active metabolites from plant and endo-
phytic fungi. The work carried out in our lab on bioprospecting of endophytic fungi
for molecules with antihypercholesterolemic potential is also included.
S.I. Mohammed and M.P. Patil have contributed equally in this work.
S.I. MohammedV.L. Maheshwari (&)
School of Life Sciences, North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon 425001, MS, India
e-mail: [email protected]
S.I. Mohammed
e-mail: [email protected]
M.P. PatilR.H. Patil
Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, R. C. Patel Arts, Commerce and Science
College, Karvand Naka, Shirpur, MS, India
e-mail: [email protected]
R.H. Patil
e-mail: [email protected]
©Springer International Publishing AG 2017
D.K. Maheshwari and K. Annapurna (eds.),Endophytes: Crop Productivity
and Protection, Sustainable Development and Biodiversity 16,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-66544-3_10
213