Endophytic Xylariaceae from Thai Plants: A Research Review

Endophytic fungi are present in all plant species investigated, and members of the Xylariaceae are especially common in tropical plants. There is major interest in endophytic fungi, because of their excellent track record concerning the production of novel and often bioactive compounds including the anti-cancer drugs taxol and taxane. Studies in Thailand on endophytes over the past 20 years confirm the high presence of the Xylariaceae in many different Thai plants. Species of Xylaria stand out as the most frequent Xylariaceae isolated; although, Daldinia eschscholtzii has also been commonly isolated. DNA technology and chemical profiling have been shown to be invaluable in the identification of xylariaceous isolates which previously could not be identified to species level or even assigned to genera in many cases. Reference is made to those isolates which produce novel compounds or those exhibiting bioactive properties