Esteemed

Hemant Sharma:

first you have to take into account that the relationship between endophytic fungi and their host plant can range from mutualism to pathogenesis. In these relationships both organisms produce potentially toxic secondary metabolites. The endophyte fungus produces virulence factors, such as exoenzymes and phytotoxic metabolites, while the plant produces defenses, both mechanical and biochemical. Consequently, for both organisms to coexist, a balanced antagonism relationship is established between them, which depends on the virulence of the fungus and the plant's defenses, which vary and are influenced by environmental factors and the stage of development of both organisms. When the virulence factors of the fungus and the defenses of the plant are in equilibrium an endophytic relationship is established and, on the contrary, when the host senescence occurs or is under stress, the balance becomes in favor of the fungus and It is expressed as a pathogen, presenting the symptoms of disease. So you have to be sure what type of relationship is being expressed in your case to get an idea of ​​the nature of the possible metabolites that may be present in the extract.

On the other hand you should also bear in mind that endophytic fungi, in addition to interacting with their host, interact with each other within the plant. These interspecific interactions (between different species of fungi) are governed by: a) physical or direct mechanisms, such as interactions between hyphae, hyphal interference (mycoparasitism) and mycelial contact, and b) chemical or indirect mechanisms, which are they give by the production of soluble compounds, some primary metabolites, secondary metabolites, enzymes or by effective volatile compounds at a distance that limit the growth of the hyphae of the competitor.

In general, secondary metabolites isolated from endophytic fungi have a great chemical diversity and some of them have base skeletons not reported in other natural sources. Thus, for example, the alkaloids loline and its derivatives, which comprise a family of pyrrolizidine compounds, have a base nucleus of 2-oxa-6-azatricichlononan; lolitrem type indoloditerpenes, consisting of fused 8-ring heterocyclic systems; the paspalitrem, 7-ring indoloditerpenic and the ergoclavine and ergopeptin ergot alkaloids. There are also a considerable number of compounds of polyketide origin, including those that are widely distributed in all fungal taxa, many consist of macrolides, as well as various aromatic compounds such as benzenes, naphthalenes, anthracenes, pyrans, furans, benzofurans, chromans. , xantanos, oxepanos and depsids. Endophytic fungi also produce secondary metabolites with novel and exclusive terpene structures. The steroids that have been most re ported are those of ergostane skeleton.

So I suggest you make isolations and purification of the endophytes, analyze the status of your host plant and depending on this, you can perform a phytochemical screening of the plant extract and determinations specific to the culture of your fungus in liquid medium.

This article could be of interest to you:

Metabolite analysis of endophytic fungi from cultivars of Zingiber officinale Rosc. identifies myriad of bioactive compounds including tyrosol

Thank you all the scholars for your precious time and valuable suggestions.