Plant-associated endophytic fungi as potential bio-factories for extracellular enzymes: Progress, Challenges and Strain improvement with precision approaches

Abstract

There is an intricate network of relations between endophytic fungi and their hosts that affects the production of various bioactive compounds. Plant-associated endophytic fungi contain industrially important enzymes and have the potential to fulfil their rapid demand in the international market to boost business in technology.Being safe and metabolically active, they have replaced the usage of toxic and harmful chemicals and hold a credible application in biotransformation, bioremediation and industrial processes. Despite these, there are limited reports on fungal endophytes that can directly cater to the demand and supply of industrially stable enzymes. The underlying reasons include low endogenous production and secretion of enzymes from fungal endophytes which have raised concern for widely accepted applications. Hence, it is imperative to augment the biosynthetic and secretory potential of fungal endophytes. Modern state-of-the-art biotechnological technologies aiming at strain improvement using cell factory engineering as well as precise gene editing like Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and its Associated proteins (Cas) systems which can provide a boost in fungal endophyte enzyme production. Additionally, it is vital to characterize optimum conditions to grow one strain with multiple enzymes (OSME). The present review encompasses various plants-derived endophytic fungal enzymes and their applications in various sectors. Furthermore, we postulate the feasibility of new precision approaches with an aim for strain improvement and enhanced enzyme production.

Cactus Endophytic Fungi and Bioprospecting for their Enzymes and Bioactive Molecules: A Systematic Review

“…The fungi that produced the most enzymes were Aspergillus japonicus (6 enzymes) and Clabosporium cladosporioides (5 enzymes). These hypersecretory endophytes can provide us with a wide range of enzymes that are physiologically important for host metabolism, as well as being useful to industries around the world [25,60] …”

“…These hypersecretory endophytes can provide us with a wide range of enzymes that are physiologically important for host metabolism, as well as being useful to industries around the world. [25,60] Among the enzymes studied, L-asparaginase was an important chemical substance with proven therapeutic efficacy [35] against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of this substance isolated from Gram-negative bacteria such as Eschericia coli and Erwinia chrysanthemi.…”

“…[39] Lasparaginase produced by fungi has attracted attention because it has fewer side effects than the enzyme produced by bacteria, is generally considered safe and is widely used in the food industry. [6,17,60] The use of current technologies such as cell factory engineering and precise genes such as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and its associated protein (Cas) systems can enhance the production of fungal endophyte enzymes. It is envisaged that fungal extracellular enzymes will provide an alternative to toxic chemicals and will be used in biotransformation, bioremediation and industrial processes.…”

Endophytes in Lignin Valorization: A Novel Approach

“…Apart from secreting lesser amount of enzymes, certain endophytes are extremely slow growing which further delays the enzyme secretion. Therefore, it is pivotal to boost their enzyme secretion employing modern techniques, like, cell factory engineering and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas (CRISPR associated protein) technology ( Raghav et al, 2022 ). Neverthless, such modifications may hike the overall cost for synthesizing endophytic enzymes.…”

Extracellular enzymes produced by Coriolopsis rigida an endophytic fungus associated with Cochlospermum regium

“…More than 700 commercial enzyme-based products are extensively used in an array of over 40 different industrial sectors, which include the detergent and textile industries, food processing, medical therapeutics, pharmaceuticals and also for agricultural purposes (Sopalun and Iamtham 2020;Raghav et al, 2022). There is a need to explore new sustainable sources for enzyme production with enriched biological applications, fungal endophytes have been demonstrated as good sources of enzymes of industrial interest (Raghav et al, 2022).…”