Unveiling the diversity, bioactive metabolites and therapeutic potential of endophytic fungi of the Apocynaceae family: a comprehensive review.

The Apocynaceae family, commonly known as the dogbane family, is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions and is renowned for its rich reservoir of bioactive phytochemicals. Although its plants have been extensively investigated, the fungal endophytes associated with this family remain comparatively less explored. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of the diversity, bioactive metabolites, therapeutic potential, plant growth-promoting attributes, and nanoparticle synthesis associated with endophytic fungi of plants of Apocynaceae family. The review summarizes endophytic fungi reported from major medicinal hosts, including Catharanthus roseus, Calotropis procera, Nerium oleander, and Rauvolfia serpentina. Species belonging to the genera Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Curvularia, and Cladosporium were the most frequently reported fungal endophytes. These fungi produce a wide range of secondary metabolites, including vinblastine, vincristine, taxol, oosporein, polyketides, coumarins, terpenoids, alkaloids, phenolics, and steroids, exhibiting diverse biological activities such as cytotoxic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and insecticidal. The review further discusses emerging advances in omics-based approaches, biosynthetic gene clusters, plant growth-promoting attributes, and nanoparticle synthesis using fungal extracts, while highlighting current challenges in validating host-associated metabolites and identifying future research priorities for the sustainable exploitation of plants of Apocynaceae-associated fungal endophytes.