Endophytic fungi producers of biomolecules of interest to human health

Fungal endophytes constitute a major part of the unexplored fungal diversity. These fungi engage in a close association within their host plants, establishing a fungal community in the plant endosphere, and can be found in the various plant parts. The existence of fungi inside the plants has been known since the end of the 19th century. From the beginning of the 20th century, they have been considered important components of biodiversity. In the literature, it is estimated that over one million fungal endophytes exist in nature and are important sources of novel, potential, and active metabolites. Bioactive compounds produced by these fungi help the host plants to resist external biotic and abiotic stress, which benefits their survival. These compounds or secondary metabolites are rich sources of natural products displaying a broad spectrum of biological activities like anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral, immunomodulatory, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-arthritis, and anti-inflammatory.

This Research Topic aims to collect manuscripts dealing with taxonomy, phylogeny, and secondary metabolites of endophytic fungi, specifically but not uniquely:

Identification and description of newly discovered endophytic fungi
Identification of secondary metabolites from endophytic fungi
Identification and description of the biological activities like anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral,
Immunomodulatory, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-arthritis, and anti-inflammatory from secondary metabolites from endophytic fungi.
Optimization of secondary metabolites produced by endophytic fungi in shaker or bioreactor