Diversity of cultivable endophytic fungi in two Rubia plants and their potential for production of anti-tumour Rubiaceae-type cyclopeptides

Rubia plants are one of the most important plant resources possessing significant commercial and medicinal values. Plant endophytes could benefit their host plants in different ways. Rubiaceae-type cyclopeptides (RAs), mainly isolated from Rubia plants, have attracted considerable attentions for their distinctive bicyclic structures and significant antitumor activities, but their contents in plants are low. The aim of this study is to investigate the diversity of endophytic fungi in Rubia plants and their potential for production of RAs. In this work, 143 endophytic fungi isolates were obtained from two Rubia plants. Phylogenetic analysis was performed based on the ITS rDNA sequences, and the isolates were classified into 29 genera. Among them, four endophytic fungal strains were found to produce anti-tumour RAs by LC-MS/MS analysis. This work successfully provides valuable knowledges of endophytic fungi microbiome in Rubia plants for agricultural and industrial applications, and exploits a new environmental-friendly resource of RAs.