Role of Endophytes in Pharmaceutical Industry

The search for new and useful compounds to provide assistance and relief in all aspects of the human condition is ever growing. Drug resistance in bacteria, severe infections caused by various pathogens, the increased human population and environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity and pollution of land and water added problems to society. The microbes residing within plant tissues ‘the endophytes’ are also important sources of secondary metabolites with immense implications in agriculture and medicine [1]. Endophytes may contribute to their host plant by producing a plethora of substances that provide protection and ultimately survival value to the plant. Endophytes have proved to be a rich source of novel chemistry and biological molecules [2]. Numerous studies of the diversity of endophytic microbes in plants suggest that these microbes are diverse enough and occur in high enough numbers as to constitute communities. Various reports indicate that endophytes exist in a variety of tissue types within numerous plant species, suggesting a ubiquitous existence in most plants. The endophytic population may originate from the usual soil community and a great diversity has been reported in diverse plant community [3]. It showed that endophytic fungi are microorganisms that can be an alternative source of bioactive secondary metabolites [4].