© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Venieraki
et al.
56
laceae
. This species is mainly distributed in
high altitudes of >2,000 m in the Arctic and
mountainous regions throughout Asia and
Europe. This typical alpine plant has been
widely used as an important food crop and
folk medicine since ancient times by many
countries, such as Sweden, Russia, India,
and China (Chiang
et al
., 2015).
Rhodiola
rhi-
zome, as a traditional folk medicine, stimu-
lates mental and physical endurance, coun-
teracts depression, improves sleep quality,
and prevents high-altitude sickness. Mod-
ern pharmacology research suggests that
Rhodiola
rhizome has received consider-
able attention because of its biological be-
havior, including antioxidant and anti-aging
properties, anti-microwave radiation, anti-
hypoxia and adaptogenic activities. Most of
these effects are ascribed to phenolics, such
as salidrosides and p-tyrosol, and glycosides
like rosavins (Chiang
et al
., 2015).
Screening of 347 endophytic fungal
strains isolated from rhizomes of
R. crenula-
ta
,
R. angusta
and
R. sachalinensis
revealed
that four endophytic fungi were capable of
producing salidrosides and p-tyrosol (Cui
et al
., 2015). One of these endophytic fungi
identified as
Phialocephala fortinii
was able
to stably produce large amounts of salidro-
sides and p-tyrosol, 2.3 and 2 mg/ml of cul-
ture medium, respectively (Cui
et al
., 2016).
Solanum nigrum L. (Solanaceae)
Solanumnigrum
L., family
Solanaceae
is a
well-known medicinal plant which possess-
es several biological activities such as anti-
oxidant, hepato-protective, antiinflamma-
tory, antipyretic, diuretic, antimicrobial and
anticancer activities due to its flavonoid and
steroidal alkaloids content (Jain
et al
., 2011).
Solamargine, one of the major steroidal al-
kaloids in
S. nigrum
has been demonstrated
to exhibit potent anticancer activity against
colon, prostate, breast, hepatic and lung
cancer cell lines (Jain
et al
., 2011). Solamar-
gine is always found in a complex mixture
with other glycoalkaloids such as solasonine
and solanine, which makes solamargine iso-
lation from the plant quite difficult (Milner
et
al
., 2011). Chemical synthesis of solamargine
is possible, however it does not appear to be
practical as the overall yield was only 10.5%,
requiring 13 steps (Wei
et al
., 2011).
Three fungal endophytes have been iso-
lated from
S. nigrum
stems, leaves and fruits.
Their culture extracts were screened for the
potential production of steroidal alkaloids.
The stem derived endophytic fungal strain
A. flavus
was able to steadily produce sola-
margine with a titer of about 250–300 μg/ L
which is higher than the plant callus culture
method (El-Hawary
et al
., 2016).
Piper longum L. and Piper nigrum L. (Pip-
eraceae)
Piperine is a major alkaloid present in the
fruit of
Piper longum
and
Piper nigrum
and it
is
known to have a wide range of pharma-
ceutical properties including antibacterial,
antifungal, hepato-protective, antipyretic,
anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsant, insec-
ticidal and antioxidant. The amount of pip-
erine varies in plants belonging to the
Pip-
eraceae
family; it constitutes 2% to 7.4% of
both black pepper and white pepper (Cor-
gani
et al
., 2017). Screening of endophyt-
ic fungi isolated from both plant species re-
vealed the presence of piperine in culture
extracts of endophytic
Periconia
strains iso-
lated from leaves of
P. longum
(Verma
et al
.,
2011) and
Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides
from the stems of
P. nigrum
(Chithra
et al
.,
2014).
Digitalis lanata Ehrh. (Plantaginaceae)
Glycosides from plants of the genus
Dig-
italis
have been reported to be cardiotonic
and are widely used in the treatment of var-
ious heart conditions namely atrial fibrilla-
tion, atrial flutter and heart failure. The bio-
active glycosides accumulate in the leaves
and to a less extent in other organs of the
plant (Alonso
et al
., 2009).
A total of 35 fungal endophytes were iso-
lated from stems and leaves, and screened
for the production of secondary metabo-
lites. Crude extracts of fungal cultures re-
vealed the production of glycoside digox-
in from cultures of five endophytic strains
(Kaul
et al
., 2013).
