© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Venieraki
et al.
54
used in feed additives for livestock produc-
tion (Kantas
et al
., 2014). Most of the SA cur-
rently used in herbal supplements and med-
icines is extracted from
M. cordata
. Recently,
SA has gained increasing attention as a po-
tential agent in the treatment of cancer (Yu
et al
., 2014).
Screening of endophytic fungi isolated
from leaves of
M. cordata
revealed that one
of 55 isolates has the capacity to produce SA
(Wang
et al
., 2014).
Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. (Fabaceae)
Cajanus cajan
(pigeon pea) is a grain le-
gume crop in semitropical and tropical ar-
eas of the world. The extract of pigeon pea
leaves exhibit therapeutic effects on sickle
cell anemia, plasmodiosis, and hepatic dis-
orders. Moreover, pigeon pea roots are used
as a sedative, a vulnerary preparation. The
active constituents of pigeon pea are fla-
vonoids and stilbenes. Cajaninstilbene acid
(CSA) is one of the major stilbenes found in
pigeon pea. Pharmacological studies have
revealed that CSA exhibited anti-inflamma-
tory and analgesic effects. In addition, CSA
has an antioxidant activity similar to that of
the natural antioxidant resveratrol (Liang
et al
., 2013). Cajanol is a isoflavone isolat-
ed from pigeon pea roots. Pharmacological
studies have shown that cajanol has anti-
plasmodial, antifungal and antimicrobial
activities. In addition, cajanol has been de-
scribed as a novel anticancer agent, which
induced apoptosis in human breast cancer
cells (Luo
et al
., 2011).
A total of 245 endophytic fungi isolated
from roots, stems and leaves of pigeon pea
plants were screened for the production of
cajaninstilbene acid or cajanol. Three fungal
strains isolated from leaves were capable of
producing CSA and one strain isolated from
roots stably produced cajanol at a concen-
tration of 500μg/L (Zhao
et al
., 2012; Zhao
et
al
., 2013).
Cephalotaxus hainanensis H.L.Li (Cepha-
lotaxaceae)
Cephalotaxus hainanensis
H. L. Li is an in-
digenous conifer tree of China. The bark and
leaves of
Cephalotaxus
have been used in
Chinese folk medicine as anticancer agents,
and its biological active constituents were
proved to be alkaloids.
Among these alka-
loids, homoharringtonine (HHT) was shown
effective against acute myeloid leukemia
and has recently been approved by the
Food and Drug Administration for the treat-
ment of chronic myeloid leukemia (Hu
et al
.,
2016).
A large number of endophytic fun-
gi have been obtained from
Cephalotaxus
phloem. The bioactive compounds isolated
from their culture extracts were character-
ized as sesquiterpenoids, anthraquinones
and aromatic compounds, which exhibited
cytotoxic and antibacterial activities (Lu et
al., 2012; Xue
et al
. 2012; Zheng
et al
., 2011).
The hunt for an HHT-producing endophytic
fungus was eventually successful following
the screening of 213 strains isolated from
the bark of
Cephalotaxus
trees grown in Chi-
na and Thailand. The fungus was identified
as
Alternaria tenuissima
and stably produced
100 μg/L HHT (Hu
et al
., 2016).
Cinchona spp. (Rubiaceae)
The bark of the stem and roots of vari-
ous trees of the genus
Cinchora
produce
quinine alkaloids (quinine, quinidine, cin-
chonidine and cinchonine), which were the
only effective treatment of malaria for more
than four centuries.
Cinchona
bark and its
alkaloids remained the most efficient treat-
ment of malaria until the 1940s when chlo-
roquine and other synthetic antimalarial
compounds were developed (Kaufman and
Ruveda, 2005). With the development of re-
sistant malaria strains, the quest for new an-
timalarial compounds was successful with
the discovery of artemisinin from a Chinese
herbal medicine based on
Artemisia annua
L. (Tu, 2011).
Twenty-one endophytic fungi have been
isolated from
Cinchona ledgeriana
young
plant stems and screened for the presence
of Cinchora alkaloids. These fungi com-
prised of
Phomopsis, Diaporthe
,
Schizophyl-
lum
,
Penicillium
,
Fomitopsis
and
Arthrinium
species while fermentation studies demon-
