Dark Septate Endophytes (DSE) in Boreal and Subarctic Forests

Abstract

Endophytes are organisms that live at least parts of their life cycle asymptomatically within the plant tissue. Endophytic fungi include new species as well as latent pathogens and dormant saprophytes. The estimated high species diversity of endophytes and their adaptation to various plant habitats presumes a rich and almost untapped source of new secondary metabolites, some of which might become useful leads for pharmaceutical or agricultural applications. Forests are large reservoirs for fungal diversity, covering 30.3% of the land area in theworld. This chapter focuses on bioactive natural compounds,whichwere isolated from tree endophytes described from 2007 on. Furthermore, an overview is given on research efforts of pharmaceutically significant plant compounds produced by endophytic fungi, namely: taxol, camptothecin, as well as podophyllotoxin and derivatives. In addition, recent literature on endophytes and the biological activity of their extracts is cited.