Biodiversity, Ecology, and Secondary Metabolites Production of Endophytic Fungi Associated with Amaryllidaceae Crops

Abstract

Amaryllidaceae family comprises many crops of high market potential for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Nowadays, the utilization of plants as a source of bioactive compounds requires the plant/endophytic microbiome interactions, which affect all aspects of crop’s quantity and quality. This review highlights the taxonomy, ecology, and bioactive chemicals synthesized by endophytic fungi isolated from plants of the Amaryllidaceae family with a focus on the detection of pharmaceutically valuable plant and fungi constituents. The fungal microbiome of Amaryllidaceae is species- and tissue-dependent, although dominating endophytes are ubiquitous and isolated worldwide from taxonomically different hosts. Root sections showed higher colonization as compared to bulbs and leaves through the adaptation of endophytic fungi to particular morphological and physiological conditions of the plant tissues. Fungal endophytes associated with Amaryllidaceae plants are a natural source of ecofriendly bioagents of unique activities, with special regard to those associated with Amarylloidae subfamily. The latter may be exploited as stimuli of alkaloids production in host tissues or can be used as a source of these compounds through in vitro synthesis. Endophytes also showed antagonistic potential against fungal, bacterial, and viral plant diseases and may find an application as alternatives to synthetic pesticides. Although Amaryllidaceae crops are cultivated worldwide and have great economic importance, the knowledge on their endophytic fungal communities and their biochemical potential has been neglected so far.

Arnebia euchroma, a Plant Species of Cold Desert in the Himalayas, Harbors Beneficial Cultivable Endophytes in Roots and Leaves

“…The mutualism between endophytes and its host plant species is sustained through the production or induction of metabolites required for the growth or protection of plants against adverse environmental conditions or pathogens . As evident from various reports, several metabolites of host origin and their precursors are also produced by associated endophytic symbionts (Maggini et al, 2017;Caruso et al, 2020). The role of endophytes in the primary and secondary metabolism of host plants and as a source of important secondary metabolites is also demonstrated in various plant species (Pandey et al, 2016(Pandey et al, , 2018.…”

Fungal Endophytes of Tahiti Lime (Citrus citrus × latifolia) and Their Potential for Control of Colletotrichum acutatum J. H. Simmonds Causing Anthracnose

“…Among biological control options, endophytic fungi have become a resource of interest to the agricultural world to control disease ( Latz et al, 2018 ; De Silva et al, 2019 ; Ortega et al, 2020 ) and improve crop yields ( Abo, 2019 ; Segaran and Sathiavelu, 2019 ; Rojas et al, 2020 ). The symbiotic interactions of these fungi, and their ability to coexist safely with the tissues of the host plant make possible the production of bioactive compounds for the control of pests and pathogens that attack plants ( Selim, 2012 ; Kusari et al, 2013 ; Caruso et al, 2020 ). In crops, there is a pressing need to find new solutions, making the exploration of endophytic mycobiota in species such as Tahiti lime important.…”

In vitro regeneration of bulblet using two and four bulb-scales explants of summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum L.)

“…It is also widely found in the temperate zone in the world, distributed between the sea level and 1100 m in wetland and damp areas, such as swamps (Al-Faris et al, 2019). Spring flowering geophytes of the Amaryllidoideae such as L. aestivum have pronounced value as ornamental species (Crişan et al, 2019, Caruso et al, 2020. They have been planted in European gardens since the distant past (Caruso et al, 2020).…”

“…Spring flowering geophytes of the Amaryllidoideae such as L. aestivum have pronounced value as ornamental species (Crişan et al, 2019, Caruso et al, 2020. They have been planted in European gardens since the distant past (Caruso et al, 2020). Summer snowflake as the other Amaryllidoideae plant species has a high potential for adaptation (Torras et al, 2017).…”