REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1684777
This article is part of the Research TopicMetabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology for Sustainable Microbial Cell FactoriesView all 9 articles
Marine Endophytes: Biosynthetic Engines for Novel Bioactive Metabolites
Provisionally accepted
- 1Key Laboratory of Coastal Biology and Biological Resources Utilization, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China
- 2Ludong University, Yantai, China
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Marine endophytes are prolific sources of structurally diverse secondary metabolites with significant pharmaceutical potential, including anticancer, antimicrobial, and antioxidant agents. However, their commercial utilization is hindered by genomic instability in axenic cultures and inconsistent metabolite yields. While current studies focus on symbiotic interactions and compound discover, critical gaps persist in harnessing their biosynthetic capabilities. This review synthesizes knowledge on marine fungal metabolites and proposes a paradigm shift toward resource-driven research. It addresses strain improvement limitations and suggests strategies like mutagenesis, protoplast fusion, and metabolic engineering to bolster production stability and efficiency. The paper also discusses biological process optimization, including fermentation tuning, inducer and precursor addition, and adsorbent use, to enhance natural product synthesis. By identifying these research gaps and proposing a strategic roadmap, the review advances the stable and scalable production of bioactive metabolites, unlocking the commercial and therapeutic potential of marine endophytic fungi.
Keywords: Marine endophytic fungi, Bioactive metabolites, Strain improvement, Fermentation optimization, Biosynthetic potential
Received: 13 Aug 2025; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ren, Zhang, Qin and Kong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Cun-cui Kong, cuncuikong@ldu.edu.cn
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