Aspergillus foetidus Regulated the Biochemical Characteristics of Soybean and Sunflower under Heat Stress Condition: Role in Sustainability

Porostereum spadiceum-AGH786 Regulates the Growth and Metabolites Production in Triticum aestivum L. Under Salt Stress

The role of the most fungal endophytes in the host plant growth and production of metabolites under stress conditions is still unknown. Fungal endophytes occur in almost all plants to benefit the host plants exposed to biotic and abiotic stress. In the present work, we investigated salt (NaCl) stress alleviation capability of a fungal endophyte (Porostereum spadiceum-AGH786). The culture filtrate (CF: 1.5 mL.) of P. spadiceum-AGH786 contained IAA (158 µg/ml), SA (29.3 µg/ml), proline (114.6 µg/ml), phenols (167.4 µg/ml), lipids (71.4 µg/ml), sugar (133.2 µg/ml), flavonoids (105.04 µg/ml). Smaller amounts of organic acids, such as butyric acid (5.8 µg/ml), formic acid (2.34 µg/ml), succinic acid (2.02 µg/ml), and quinic acid (2.25 µg/ml) were also found in CF of P. spadiceum-AGH786. Similarly, the CF displayed antioxidant activity in 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-Azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. Moreover, wheat plants colonized by P. spadiceum-AGH786 showed significantly (P = 0.05) higher polyphenol oxidases activity (2.2 mg/g DW) under normal conditions as compared to the NaCl-treated plants. We also observed that P. spadiceum-AGH786 improved biomass (0.30 g) of wheat plants subjected to 140 mM NaCl stress. The results conclude that the wheat plant colonization by P. spadiceum-AGH786 greatly improved the plant growth under 70 mM and 140 mM NaCl stress. Thus, the biomass of the P. Spadiceum-AGH786 can be used in saline soil to help the host plants.

Endophytic fungal communities and their biotechnological implications for agro-environmental sustainability

Endophytic fungal communities have attracted a great attention to chemists, ecologists, and microbiologists as a treasure trove of biological resource. Endophytic fungi play incredible roles in the ecosystem including abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, eco-adaptation, enhancing growth and development, and maintaining the health of their host. In recent times, endophytic fungi have drawn a special focus owing to their indispensable diversity, unique distribution, and unparalleled metabolic pathways. The endophytic fungal communities belong to three phyla, namely Mucoromycota, Basidiomycota, and Ascomycota with seven predominant classes Agaricomycetes, Dothideomycetes, Eurotiomycetes, Mortierellomycotina, Mucoromycotina, Saccharomycetes, and Sordariomycetes. In a review of a huge number of research finding, it was found that endophytic fungal communities of genera Aspergillus, Chaetomium, Fusarium, Gaeumannomyces, Metarhizium, Microsphaeropsis, Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Piriformospora, Talaromyces, Trichoderma, Verticillium, and Xylaria have been sorted out and well characterized for diverse biotechnological applications for future development. Furthermore, these communities are remarkable source of novel bioactive compounds with amazing biological activity for use in agriculture, food, and pharmaceutical industry. Endophytes are endowed with a broad range of structurally unique bioactive natural products, including alkaloids, benzopyranones, chinones, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and quinines. Subsequently, there is still an excellent opportunity to explore novel compounds from endophytic fungi among numerous plants inhabiting different niches. Furthermore, high-throughput sequencing could be a tool to study interaction between plants and endophytic fungi which may provide further opportunities to reveal unknown functions of endophytic fungal communities. The present review deals with the biodiversity of endophytic fungal communities and their biotechnological implications for agro-environmental sustainability.

Fungal Endophyte: An Interactive Endosymbiont With the Capability of Modulating Host Physiology in Myriad Ways

Endophytic fungi ubiquitously dwell inside the tissue-spaces of plants, mostly asymptomatically. They grow either intercellularly or intracellularly in a particular host plant to complete the whole or part of their life cycle. They have been found to be associated with almost all the plants occurring in a natural ecosystem. Due to their important role in the survival of plants (modulate photosynthesis, increase nutrient uptake, alleviate the effect of various stresses) they have been selected to co-evolve with their hosts through the course of evolution. Many years of intense research have discovered their tremendous roles in increasing the fitness of the plants in both normal and stressed conditions. There are numerous literature regarding the involvement of various endophytic fungi in enhancing plant growth, nutrient uptake, stress tolerance, etc. But, there are scant reports documenting the specific mechanisms employed by fungal endophytes to manipulate plant physiology and exert their effects. In this review, we aim to document the probable ways undertaken by endophytic fungi to alter different physiological parameters of their host plants. Our objective is to present an in-depth elucidation about the impact of fungal endophytes on plant physiology to make this evolutionarily conserved symbiotic interaction understandable from a broader perspective.