Current Understanding and Future Perspectives of Endophytic Microbes vis-a-vis Production of Secondary Metabolites

Abstract

Endophytes are the bacterial and fungal forms of organisms living within the plant system causing no ill effects to the hosts. They asymptomatically live in the cellular environment in the plants carrying out various complicated functions such as production of secondary metabolites and signaling molecules coupled to the responses of various external and internal stimuli for mutual survival. They are known to produce a range of metabolites of utility in treating various disorders in humans and also produce chemicals of utility in agriculture such as growth regulator and pesticides, in several economically important plants. Continued research findings on the range of metabolites produce by them and their promising utilities have raised hopes in finding biotechnological solutions ranging from prospecting to production of industrial relevance to find lasting sustainable solutions for economical exploitation. These aspects have been dealt in detail as evidenced through current scientific understanding coupled to the future perspectives.