Advance on secondary metabolites of grassland and desert plants endophytic fungi

Abstract:

Endophytic fungi from desert and grassland areas are an ecologically important, though poorly studied, class of fungi in terms of chemistry with potentially and vitally ecological or biological roles. Though limited secondary metabolites isolated up to date compared with those of other fungi, there still are many secondary metabolites with novel structure features and potentially biological activities purified from this member of special fungi. In this paper, the different types of secondary metabolites isolated from endophytic fungi inhabiting in grassland and desert plants were reviewed from the perspectives of structural types (alkaloids, polyketides, phenolic acids, terpenoids and cyclic peptides), pharmacological activities (antiviral, immunoregulation, promotion of bone marrow proliferation, cytotoxicity and Hsp90 inhibitor activity) and ecological roles (insecticidal, antifeedant and animal neurotoxic activity). This review might provide a solid foundation for further chemical and biological investigation of this special family of endophytic fungi. Finally, the existing problems in this field are analyzed and discussed, and the prospect is also put forward.