Biocidal Metabolites from Endophytes that Occur in Medicinal Plants - Natural Antioxidants and Biocides from Wild Medicinal Plants - page 62

an economical way to produce a metabolite in
a bulk quantity and thereby reduce its market
price. It is also interesting to note that, as pre-
viously mentioned, some endophytes have
been shown to produce new molecules with
prominent bioactivity on noxious micro-
organisms with impact on human health and
agricultural and industrial activities. This sit-
uation will also stimulate the research on
endophytes in the coming years.

Endophytes are an outstanding source of
both novel and bioactive natural products,
which have an enormous potential for the
development of new drugs and agricultural
products. Consequently, endophytes are
known to be a rich and reliable source of
biologically active compounds with poten-
tial benefits in medicine, industry and
agriculture. In contrast, the development of
techniques such as combinatorial chemistry
and equipment such as peptide synthe-
sizers gives rise to exciting opportunities
and expectations for the synthesis of bio-
logically active compounds. Additionally,
because most endophyte research has been
conducted on cultivated species, the diver-
sity of studied endophytes has been further
restricted by limitations in the ability to cul-
tivate endophytes in the laboratory. Research
focusing on endophytes is a promising field
in the chemistry and biological properties
of natural products.

5.4 Conclusions

The need for new bioactive metabolites to
overcome the growing problems of drug
resistance in microorganisms and the
appearance of new diseases is of increasing
importance. The capability of fungi to pro-
duce bioactive metabolites has encouraged
researchers to isolate and screen fungi
from diverse habitats and environments.

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