viii Evelyn Hughes
healthy tissues. In general, endophytes are considered as commensalistic
symbionts, where they receive nutrients and shelter from the host. In return,
they are thought to provide the host with chemical constituents that can be
used in the growth or defense mechanisms. Fungal endophytes have attracted a
great interest to microbiologists, chemists and ecologists as a treasure of
biological resource, because they play diverse indispensable roles in the
ecosystem for stress tolerance, eco-adaptation, and promoting growth and
development. Recently, endophytic fungi have drawn a particular attention,
due to their considerable biodiversity, unparalleled metabolic pathways and
unique habitats. Therefore, they were considered as an unusual source of novel
secondary metabolites, exhibiting a variety of biological activity, which are in
use in modern agriculture, pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry. In
the last two decades, the extensive discovery of endophytic secondary
metabolites reflected the tremendous chemical diversity of different natural
compounds classes with incredible bioactivity, but still the chemistry of
endophytes needs to be comprehensively studied. On the other hand, the
search for alternative sources of fuels is becoming increasingly important and
biodiesel has been shown to be one of the most promising alternatives. Fungal
endophytes have been reported to produce volatile low molecular mass
hydrocarbons such as alcohols, alkenes and trepenoidal mycodisel. In this
review, the authors will focus on characterization and diversity of endophytic
fungi, with highlighting their ecological role in nature. Besides, they will
emphasis on the variety of chemical classes and the wide spectrum biological
functions of endophytic metabolites as well as their potential as an energy
source for biofuel production.
Chapter 3 – Endophytic fungi are important biotechnological tools
because they produce many secondary metabolites. However, to access this
important source of bioactive molecules, it is essential to explore the diversity
of endophytic fungi and catalog their species richness in different ecosystems.
Tropical regions are recognized as areas of high diversity, although many
areas remain unexplored, such as the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
This study is the first to explore the diversity of endophytic fungi in the
medicinal plant Vochysia divergens, found in the Pantanal. In total, 77 isolates
were identified by ITS1–5.8S–ITS2 rDNA sequencing and phylogenetic
analysis as belonging to the genera Antrodia, Irpex, Peniophora, Phyllosticta,
Neofusicoccum, Pseudofusicoccum, Polyporus, Daldinia, Nigrospora,
Colletotrichum, Diaporthe, Lanceispora, Cladosporium, Phaeosphaeria, and
Annellosympodiella. Nineteen isolates were identified as belonging to the
Xylariaceae family, and the data indicate that these isolates are members of a