Endophytic mycoflora are ubiquitous organisms residing in the internal tissues of the plants, at least for a portion of their lives without causing apparent symptoms of infection. Endophytes serve as rich source of novel natural compounds with a wide-spectrum of biologically active agents. The review reveals the significance of endophytic mycoflora from plants as a source of bioactive organic compounds. The bioactive compounds produced by endophytic fungi originate from PKS/NRPS biosynthetic pathways. These compounds belong to diverse structural groups such as alkaloids, benzopyranones, chinones, cytochalasines, depsipeptides, enniatines, flavonoids, furandiones, isocumarines, peptides, polyketones, phenols, quinols, terpenoids, tetralones and xanthones and are characterized by NMR, mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography etc. Endophytes therefore, represent a chemical reservoir for array of new compounds which are anti-cancerous, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anti-parasitical, anti-viral, anti-mycobacterium, anti-insecticidal, anti-malarial, anti-biotic and immunosuppressive & immunomodulatory agents and also other compounds used in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. This paper mainly focuses on the exploration of novel and useful compounds from endophytic mycoflora, the study of their role in cure of diseases and the recent scenario of screening approach for novel drugs and their pharmacological interest.
Key words: Endophytic Mycoflora; Infectious diseases; Secondary metabolites; Drug resistance
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