Endophytic fungi and their metabolites isolated from Indian medicinal plant

Endophytic fungi have been creating a considerable interest and curiosity among researchers since past three decades globally, owing to their recognition as an inexhaustible source of structurally and biologically novel compounds, alternative source of metabolites functionally identical to plant produced metabolites and their ability to impart resistance in host plants against various biotic and abiotic stresses. In this review, we have earnestly attempted to compile a vast array of endophytic fungi assemblages harbored inside Indian medicinal plants which have been reported during last decade from India.     

植物内生真菌化感作用的研究现状

植物内生真菌能产生酚类、萜类和生物碱类等多种类型的化感物质,它们在植物的生长发育、抗生物胁迫和非生物胁迫方面发挥重要作用。对植物内生真菌的化感作用及其所产生的化感物质进行了综述,并展望了其化感作用的应用前景。     

Is —— the rhizosphere a source of applicable multi-beneficial microorganisms for plant enhancement?

The plant faces different pedological and climatic challenges that influence its growth and enhancement. While, plant-microbes interactions throught the rhizosphere offer several privileges to this hotspot in the service of plant, by attracting multi-beneficial mutualistic and symbiotic microorganisms as plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), archaea, mycorrhizal fungi, endophytic fungi, and others…). Currently, numerous investigations showed the beneficial effects of these microbes on growth and plant health. Indeed, rhizospheric microorganisms offer to host plants the essential assimilable nutrients, stimulate the growth and development of host plants, and induce antibiotics production. They also attributed to host plants numerous phenotypes involved in the increase the resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. The investigations and the studies on the rhizosphere can offer a way to find a biological and sustainable solution to confront these environmental problems. Therefore, the interactions between microbes and plants may lead to interesting biotechnological applications on plant improvement and the adaptation in different climates to obtain a biological sustainable agricultures without the use of chemical fertilizers.     

Induction of abiotic stress tolerance in plants by endophytic microbes

Endophytes are micro‐organisms including bacteria and fungi that survive within healthy plant tissues and promote plant growth under stress. This review focuses on the potential of endophytic microbes that induce abiotic stress tolerance in plants. How endophytes promote plant growth under stressful conditions, like drought and heat, high salinity and poor nutrient availability will be discussed. The molecular mechanisms for increasing stress tolerance in plants by endophytes include induction of plant stress genes as well as biomolecules like reactive oxygen species scavengers. This review may help in the development of biotechnological applications of endophytic microbes in plant growth promotion and crop improvement under abiotic stress conditions.

Significance and Impact of the Study

Increasing human populations demand more crop yield for food security while crop production is adversely affected by abiotic stresses like drought, salinity and high temperature. Development of stress tolerance in plants is a strategy to cope with the negative effects of adverse environmental conditions. Endophytes are well recognized for plant growth promotion and production of natural compounds. The property of endophytes to induce stress tolerance in plants can be applied to increase crop yields. With this review, we intend to promote application of endophytes in biotechnology and genetic engineering for the development of stress‐tolerant plants.     

Arbuscular mycorrhiza in combating abiotic stresses in vegetables: An eco-friendly approach

Vegetable production is hampered by several abiotic stresses which are very common in this era of climate change. There is a huge pressure on the plants to survive and yield better results even in the prevalence of various environmental stresses such as cold stress, drought, heat stress, salinity etc. This necessitates the need of robust plant growth which is possible with mycorrhizal association. Mycorrhiza improves plants tolerance to several abiotic stresses by various physiological, functional and biochemical changes in plants. The application of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) as vegetable biofertilizers doesn’t only influence the plant health, but moreover discursively it lowers the demand for harmful chemical fertilizers. Overall, it may be concluded that inoculation of vegetables with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can be used, as it easily guards plants against undesirable abiotic stresses. In this work, information is provided based on several examples from the literature based on the application of AM to combat harmful abiotic stresses in vegetable crops. This paper reviews the impacts of AM fungi on the plant parameters, its functional activities and molecular mechanisms which makes it more adaptable and underline the future prospects of using AM fungi as a biofertilizer in the stress condition.     

Endophyte-mediated adjustments in host morphology and physiology and effects on host fitness traits in grasses

Endophytic fungi have been shown to increase tolerance of hosts to biotic and abiotic stresses and in some cases alter growth and development of plants. In this article we evaluate some effects that clavicipitaceous endophytes have on development and physiology of plant tissues. We postulate that oxidative stress protection is the fundamental underlying benefit conferred by many endophytes, accounting for frequently observed enhanced disease resistance, drought tolerance, heavy metal tolerance and tolerance to numerous additional oxidative stresses. We hypothesize that endophyte-mediated oxidative stress protection of the host is the result of at least two processes, including: (1) secretion of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from endophytic mycelia into plant cells; and (2) secretion of auxin from endophytic mycelia into plant cells. Both processes result in an increase in ROS in plant tissues; and stimulate plant tissues to increase activities of antioxidant systems. Auxin is suggested to function in suppression of plant cell death and may be important in maintaining the endophyte–plant symbiosis.     

内生真菌及其对宿主植物生态适应性的影响

从植物-真菌的相互作用和植物体内微生态学的角度,综述近年来植物-内生真菌互作关系的研究进展,分析在生物和非生物环境因子胁迫下,植物内生真菌对宿主生态适应能力的影响及其可能的机制,特别强调将植物及其内生微生物作为一个整体研究的重要性,表明植物内生真菌作为一类重要的微生物资源,可以在增强植物的生态适应性,缓解全球气候变化对植物和人类的压力方面发挥其重要的作用,因而具有良好的应用前景。     

High diversity and low specificity of fungi associated with seedless epiphytic plants

Epiphytes, which grow on other plants for support, make up a large portion of Earth's plant diversity. Like other plants, their surfaces and interiors are colonized by diverse assemblages of fungi that can benefit their hosts by increasing tolerance for abiotic stressors and resistance to disease or harm them as pathogens. Fungal communities associated with epiphytic plants and the processes that structure these communities are poorly known. To address this, we sampled seven epiphytic seedless plant taxa in a Costa Rican rainforest and examined the effects of host identity and microhabitat on external and endophytic fungal communities. We found low host specificity for both external and endophytic fungi and weak differentiation between epiphytic and neighboring epilithic plant hosts. High turnover in fungi within and between hosts and habitats reveals that epiphytic plant-associated fungal communities are highly diverse and suggests that they are structured by stochastic processes.     

A critical review on natural compounds interacting with the plant plasma membrane H+-ATPase and their potential as biologicals in agriculture

The plant plasma membrane (PM) H⁺-ATPase is an essential enzyme controlling plant growth and development. It is an important factor in response to abiotic and biotic stresses and is subject to tight regulation. We are in demand for new sustainable natural growth regulators and as a key enzyme for regulation of transport into the plant cell the PM H⁺-ATPase is a potential target for these. In this review, we have evaluated the known non-protein natural compounds with regulatory effects on the PM H⁺-ATPase, focusing on their mechanism of action and their potential as biologicals/growth regulators in plant production of future sustainable agriculture.     

印度梨形孢(Piriformospora indica)增强植物抗逆境胁迫能力的研究进展

印度梨形孢是一种可在多种植物根部定殖的内生真菌,能与多种植物形成共生体,提高植物对外界营养的吸收能力,促进次生代谢产物的积累,提高植物对生物及非生物胁迫的抵抗能力,同时可增加植物的生物产量,对宿主植物产生许多有益影响。因此,印度梨形孢作为优良的生物防治和土壤改良因子,在农业生产方面显示出巨大的应用前景。本文结合本课题组近年研究结果及近10年间相关科学工作者的研究,系统总结了印度梨形孢在增强植物抗生物胁迫与非生物胁迫方面的研究进展,旨在为更好地发挥其潜在价值提供参考。     

微生物帮助烟草抗旱的机理及其应用

干旱是中国烟草种植业面临的较为严重的非生物胁迫.很多与植物共生或联合的根际微生物能帮助植物避旱和耐旱.微生物能通过菌丝吸水并转运到植物,通过产生植物激素或改变植物内源激素的平衡来促进根发育和伸长,或诱导叶片关闭气孔,促进根吸水和减少叶片散失水分来避旱.微生物能通过调整不同激素介导的信号通路,诱导植物产生系统抗逆性,促进植物细胞产生渗透保护剂、抗氧化物和活性氧清除剂而耐旱.微生物还能帮助植物吸收营养,以支持植物在干旱胁迫下的代谢和生长.本文关注丛枝菌根真菌、模式内生真菌印度梨形孢和根际促植物生长细菌帮助烟草和番茄等植物抗旱的机理,探讨如何在烟草育苗和栽培中应用有益微生物来帮助烟草抗旱.     

Endophytic fungi: resource for gibberellins and crop abiotic stress resistance

The beneficial effects of endophytes on plant growth are important for agricultural ecosystems because they reduce the need for fertilizers and decrease soil and water pollution while compensating for environmental perturbations. Endophytic fungi are a novel source of bioactive secondary metabolites; moreover, recently they have been found to produce physiologically active gibberellins as well. The symbiosis of gibberellins producing endophytic fungi with crops can be a promising strategy to overcome the adverse effects of abiotic stresses. The association of such endophytes has not only increased plant biomass but also ameliorated plant-growth during extreme environmental conditions. Endophytic fungi represent a trove of unexplored biodiversity and a frequently overlooked component of crop ecology. The present review describes the role of gibberellins producing endophytic fungi, suggests putative mechanisms involved in plant endophyte stress interactions and discusses future prospects in this field.     

The role of mycorrhizae and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in improving crop productivity under stressful environments

Both biotic and abiotic stresses are major constrains to agricultural production. Under stress conditions, plant growth is affected by a number of factors such as hormonal and nutritional imbalance, ion toxicity, physiological disorders, susceptibility to diseases, etc. Plant growth under stress conditions may be enhanced by the application of microbial inoculation including plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and mycorrhizal fungi. These microbes can promote plant growth by regulating nutritional and hormonal balance, producing plant growth regulators, solubilizing nutrients and inducing resistance against plant pathogens. In addition to their interactions with plants, these microbes also show synergistic as well as antagonistic interactions with other microbes in the soil environment. These interactions may be vital for sustainable agriculture because they mainly depend on biological processes rather than on agrochemicals to maintain plant growth and development as well as proper soil health under stress conditions. A number of research articles can be deciphered from the literature, which shows the role of rhizobacteria and mycorrhizae alone and/or in combination in enhancing plant growth under stress conditions. However, in contrast, a few review papers are available which discuss the synergistic interactions between rhizobacteria and mycorrhizae for enhancing plant growth under normal (non-stress) or stressful environments. Biological interactions between PGPR and mycorrhizal fungi are believed to cause a cumulative effect on all rhizosphere components, and these interactions are also affected by environmental factors such as soil type, nutrition, moisture and temperature. The present review comprehensively discusses recent developments on the effectiveness of PGPR and mycorrhizal fungi for enhancing plant growth under stressful environments. The key mechanisms involved in plant stress tolerance and the effectiveness of microbial inoculation for enhancing plant growth under stress conditions have been discussed at length in this review. Growth promotion by single and dual inoculation of PGPR and mycorrhizal fungi under stress conditions have also been discussed and reviewed comprehensively.     

Strigolactones in plant adaptation to abiotic stresses: An emerging avenue of plant research

Phytohormones play central roles in boosting plant tolerance to environmental stresses, which negatively affect plant productivity and threaten future food security. Strigolactones (SLs), a class of carotenoid‐derived phytohormones, were initially discovered as an “ecological signal” for parasitic seed germination and establishment of symbiotic relationship between plants and beneficial microbes. Subsequent characterizations have described their functional roles in various developmental processes, including root development, shoot branching, reproductive development, and leaf senescence. SLs have recently drawn much attention due to their essential roles in the regulation of various physiological and molecular processes during the adaptation of plants to abiotic stresses. Reports suggest that the production of SLs in plants is strictly regulated and dependent on the type of stresses that plants confront at various stages of development. Recently, evidence for crosstalk between SLs and other phytohormones, such as abscisic acid, in responses to abiotic stresses suggests that SLs actively participate within regulatory networks of plant stress adaptation that are governed by phytohormones. Moreover, the prospective roles of SLs in the management of plant growth and development under adverse environmental conditions have been suggested. In this review, we provide a comprehensive discussion pertaining to SL‐mediated plant responses and adaptation to abiotic stresses.     

Widespread occurrence of Neotyphodium-like endophyte in populations of Bromus tomentellus Boiss. in Iran

Neotyphodium species occur as endophytic fungi in cool-season grasses around the world. The beneficial aspects of grass-Neotyphodium associations have provoked researchers to look for a novel association in plant species where this symbiotum has not been reported. We surveyed Russian bromegrass (Bromus tomentellus Boiss.) accessions from a germplasm collection for the presence of Neotyphodium spp. fungi and determined levels of endophyte infection in B. tomentellus populations in native rangelands of Iran. Among 50 collected accessions, symbiotic fungi were detected in 45 accessions without any symptoms of choke disease on host plants. In culture medium, fast-growing endophytes appeared from seeds after 7-14 days. Plants grown from seed collections were 80-100% infected. Based on morphological characteristics and PCR analysis, we concluded that this fungus is a member of the Neotyphodium group of endophytic fungi. Lack of apparent toxicity to grazing animals suggests a place for endophyte-infected B. tomentellus in rangeland renovation, providing this infected grass exhibits increased tolerance to abiotic stresses.     

The responding relationship between plants and environment is the essential principle for agricultural sustainable development on the globe

The mutual-responding relationship between plants and environment is involved in all life processes, which are the essential bases for different types of sustainable development on the globe, particularly the critical basis for agricultural sustainable development. How to regulate the above relationship between plants and the corresponding environment (in particular soil environment) is the key problem to modern sustainable agriculture development under global climate change, which is one of the hot topics in the field of plant biology. Detailed dissection of this responding relationship is also important for conducting global eco-environmental restoration and construction. Although powerful methodology and dataset related to genomics, post-genomics, and metabolomics have provided some insights into this relationship, crop physiological measures are also critical for crop full performance in field. With the increase of tested plants (including model plants) and development of integrated molecular biology, a complete understanding of the relationship at different scales under biotic and abiotic stresses will be accelerated. In the current paper, we will cover some important aspects in combination with the recent work from our laboratory and related advances reflected by international academic journals, as follows: plant physiological function performance under natural condition, plant gene regulatory network system under abiotic stresses, gene regulatory network system and drought resistance improvement, summary of the related work from our laboratory, conclusions, and acknowledgement.     

药用植物内生真菌及活性物质多样性研究进展

药用植物具有丰富的物种多样性,是人类生存与发展的重要自然资源。内生真菌广泛存在于健康植物组织内部,是植物微生态系统的重要组成部分,各种药用植物中蕴藏着非常丰富的内生真菌。通过与药用植物的“协同进化”,某些内生真菌具有了产生与宿主植物相同或相似的生物活性物质的能力。内生真菌产生的各种活性物质,在生物制药、农业生产、工业发酵等方面都表现出美好的应用前景,受到世界各国专家的广泛关注。利用内生真菌发酵实现生物活性物质的工业化生产,可以提高产量、降低产品成本,满足人们日益增长的需求;同时有利于珍稀、濒危药用植物资源的保护,对减少野生药用植物多样性的破坏具有重要意义。本文从药用植物内生真菌物种多样性与产生生物活性物质多样性等方面总结近年最新的研究进展,提出了内生真菌及活性物质研究的未来发展方向。     

Effects of actinobacteria on plant disease suppression and growth promotion

Biological control and plant growth promotion by plant beneficial microbes has been viewed as an alternative to the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Bacteria and fungi that are naturally associated with plants and have a beneficial effect on plant growth by the alleviation of biotic and abiotic stresses were isolated and developed into biocontrol (BCA) and plant growth-promoting agents (PGPA). Actinobacteria are a group of important plant-associated spore-forming bacteria, which have been studied for their biocontrol, plant growth promotion, and interaction with plants. This review summarizes the effects of actinobacteria as BCA, PGPA, and its beneficial associations with plants.     

植物逆境驯化作用的生理与分子机制研究进展

植物在生长发育过程中要面对各种生物和非生物胁迫,目前对于植物应对胁迫的研究较为充分。在自然界中,各种逆境胁迫因子对植物的影响更多的是渐变的,逐渐积累的,在此过程中植物会通过驯化的方式适应这种形式的胁迫。尽管有关驯化作用提高植物耐逆性的研究有些报道,但其生理与分子机制现在还不十分清楚。本文主要介绍了植物应对病虫,冷,热,高盐4种环境因子的驯化过程的研究进展,同时总结了驯化过程的生理与分子机制,包括非激活状态的信号分子的积累以及表观遗传学修饰等。