Recent advances and future prospects of indole alkaloids producing endophytes from Catharanthus roseus

Abstract

Endophytes play a vital role in the survival of host plants by aiding defense responses by producing bioactive compounds similar to their host plants. To fulfill the ever-increasing demand for herbal drugs to cure human ailments, researchers are searching for the various sources of bioactive compounds besides medicinal plants. It was reported that in the international market, the demand of 3 kg dry leaves are required) to develop powerful plant-derived anticancer drugs. In this regard, this review aims to highlight the endophytes residing in Catharanthus roseus (family: Apocynaceae), capable of synthesizing indole alkaloids, vinblastine, vincristine, vindoline, vinflunine, vincamine, ajmalicine, ajmaline, serpentine, and reserpine used to control cancer, diabetes, malaria, vascular dementia, cardiac diseases, etc. In the search to fulfill the demand, there is urgent need to develop an efficient method of isolation, identification of endophytes, and the down-streaming process for more efficient and sustainable production of vinca alkaloids from endophytic fungus for the cancer treatment products. Microbial fermentation by optimizing media composition, precursors, inducers, and the metabolic bypass inhibitors would be a promising method in the production of vinca alkaloids at industrial scale. Furthermore, different biotechnological strategies such as gene cloning, gene transformation, and mutations can widely be used on endophytic fungi and bacteria in order to increase the productivity of the vinca alkaloids. Thus, advancements in science and technology have increased the extraction yield from vinca alkaloid producing endophytes, thereby improving the overall efficiency of alkaloid production. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.