Linking Endophytic Fungi to Medicinal Plants Therapeutic Activity. A Case Study on Asteraceae

Gianluca Caruso, Magdi T. Abdelhamid, Andrzej Kalisz and Agnieszka Sekara
Additional contact information
Gianluca Caruso: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici (Naples), Italy
Magdi T. Abdelhamid: Botany Department, National Research Centre, Cairo 12622, Egypt
Andrzej Kalisz: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Biotechnology and Horticulture, University of Agriculture, 31-120 Krakow, Poland
Agnieszka Sekara: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Biotechnology and Horticulture, University of Agriculture, 31-120 Krakow, Poland

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-23

Abstract: Endophytes are isolated from every plant species investigated to date, so the metabolome coevolution has been affecting the plants’ (microbiota) ethnobotanic, especially therapeutic, usage. Asteraceae fulfill the rationale for plant selection to isolate endophytes since most of the species of this family have a long tradition of healing usage, confirmed by modern pharmacognosy. The present review compiles recent references on the endophyte−Asteraceae spp. interactions, targeting the secondary metabolites profile as created by both members of this biological system. Endophyte fungi associated with Asteraceae have been collected globally, however, dominant taxa that produce bioactive compounds were specific for the plant populations of different geographic origins. Endophytic fungi richness within the host plant and the biological activity were positively associated. Moreover, the pharmacological action was linked to the plant part, so differential forms of biological interactions in roots, stem, leaves, inflorescences were developed between endophytic fungi and host plants. The comparative analysis of the Asteraceae host and/or fungal endophyte therapeutic activity showed similarities that need a future explanation on the metabolome level.

Keywords: compositae; fungi; herbs; secondary metabolites; symbiosis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/7/286/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/7/286/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:10:y:2020:i:7:p:286-:d:382997

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().