Host-Mimetic Metabolomics of Endophytes: Looking Back into the Future
Endophytic research is now gaining pace together with the technological advancement and refinements. The phenomenal potential of endophytes as prolific producer of a wide range of bioactive compounds occupies a complimentary domain of natural product rese
- PDF / 507,046 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 504.57 x 720 pts Page_size
- 53 Downloads / 184 Views
11
Vijay Chandra Verma, Satya Prakash, Rana Gopal Singh, and Alan Christopher Gange
Abstract
Endophytic research is now gaining pace together with the technological advancement and refinements. The phenomenal potential of endophytes as prolific producer of a wide range of bioactive compounds occupies a complimentary domain of natural product research. The discovery of paclitaxel (Taxol) as bioactive natural product of endophytic origin seems to draw indisputable attention not only for their antitumor activity but as potential microbial alternative for this high in-demand drug. Plenty of opinion is given by the enthusiasts on microbial production of paclitaxel as phylogenetic process and driving paradigm of evolution; however, skeptics described it as phylogenetic anomalies. But despite being highly controversial, the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) theory still seems quite justifiable. Let’s have another example: “maytansinoid,” a potent cytotoxic agent, was isolated and characterized from microbial endophyte of the same plant; however in both cases, further investigations recorded their occurrence not only in same host but also from deferent distant hosts and even from different endophytes. So the report of taxane and related taxoids from a taxonomically distant host raises several questions. One may assume that this might be due to evolutionary invention; however, it is very unlikely to accept that all modules of gene responsible for biosynthesis of these molecules invented in microbial systems during long evolutionary
V.C. Verma (*) DST-FAST Track Young Scientist, Centre of Experimental Medicine and Surgery (CEMS), Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, UP, India e-mail: [email protected] S. Prakash National Facility of Tribal and Herbal Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, UP, India
R.G. Singh Department of Nephrology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, UP, India A.C. Gange School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
V.C. Verma and A.C. Gange (eds.), Advances in Endophytic Research, DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-1575-2_11, © Springer India 2014
203
V.C. Verma et al.
204
symbiosis. With this chapter we are trying to get into the mechanistic aspects of host-specific chemicals synthesized by endophytic microbes together with our experience with isolation and characterization of host-specific compounds like piperine and azadirachtin. Nevertheless, the significance of this potential of endophytes cannot be ignored, as it provides not only alternative source to existing pharmaceuticals but also on the other hand save the valuable biodiversity of highly medicinal plants.
1
Introduction
Traditionally humans have always relied on natural remedies for treating and healing of their ailments. Nature has been the ultimate source of substances that reduce human sufferings, and many of the world’s tribal peoples have a better understanding of n
Data Loading...
