Endophytes from marine macroalgae: promising sources of novel natural products

Endophytic fungi are emerging as an excellent source of bioactive natural products. Though much of the research on endophytes and the natural products that they produce has focused on those isolated from terrestrial plants, endophytes of marine macroalgae have recently gained attention as an untapped source of biodiversity with the potential to yield novel bioactive metabolites. Recent work on the endophytic fungal assemblages of macroalgae has highlighted the scale of biodiversity and chemical diversity associated with fungal endophytes of macroalgae. The array of fungal species isolated and the discovery of new natural products exhibiting antimicrobial, anticancer and antiviral activities give a glimpse of the potential of macroalgal endophytes. The aim of this review is to highlight recent findings relating to endophytes of marine macroalgae with particular focus on the biodiversity of the endophytes associated with each macroalgal host, the geographical location of host alga and the biological activities exhibited by the natural products of these endophytic fungi.