In pursuit of promising microbes for drug discovery: tapping endolichenic fungi (ELF) from lichens

Abstract

The emergence of novel and re-emergence of latent infectious diseases coupled with rising cases of antimicrobial resistance necessitates the continuous search for new antibiotics. The Kingdom Fungi has been at the centerpiece of any drug discovery program ever since the beginning of the antibiotic era. The key strategy is to find novel taxa and/or ecologically defined fungal groups for the screening of bioactive secondary metabolites. In this paper, we presented the endolichenic fungi as promising fungi for bioprospecting. We searched for published papers on these fungi and presented reports of their biological activities. Through this paper, we hope to increase interest on these microorganisms among natural product researchers.