Therapeutic Potentials of Secondary Metabolites from Plants, Microbes and Endophytes

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products derived from microbes and endophytes have diverse pharmacological effects with antibiotic, antidiabetic, antiviral, and antitumor activities. These bioactive compounds are commonly used in foods, cosmetics, and nursing products. Medicinal plants and fungi represent the main source for bioactive natural products. However, the extraction of such compounds from plants and fungi is time-consuming and costly due to structural complexity, low product concentration, and the lengthy plantation period. Microbes as well as endophytes have been recognized as potential sources for the discovery of novel natural products for exploitation in medicine, agriculture, and industry. It is noteworthy that among all plant species that exist on Earth, each individual plant hosts at least one endophyte. They are the chemical synthesizers inside plants; they synthesize bioactive compounds that can be used by plants for defense against pathogens, and some of these compounds have been proven useful for novel drug discovery. Recent studies have reported hundreds of natural products including alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, steroids, and others from endophytes and microbes.

This Special Issue aims to cover promising, recent, and novel research trends in studying endophytes and microbes as a source for bioactive metabolites. This issue may also cover but is not limited to the following topics:

• Discovery of genes involved in the biosynthetic pathway of natural products in endophytes and microbes.
• Metabolomic study of microbes’ and endophytes’ metabolites.
• Assessment of the biological activity of natural products obtained from natural sources.
• Isolation and functional research of natural products from plants, endophytes, and microbes.
• Drug discovery and in silico studies against different biological conditions.

Prof. Dr. Rabab Mohammed
Dr. Dalia El Amir Mohamed
Dr. Marwa Hassan Ahmed Hassan
Guest Editors

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