Diversity of mangrove endophytes and implications for ecosystem sustainability in biotechnology

AlAnazi, A. A.; Hammami, I.; Almahasheer, H.; Al-Shammari, A. S.

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.306262

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Original Article • Braz. J. Biol. 86 • 2026 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.306262 linkcopy

Diversity of mangrove endophytes and implications for ecosystem sustainability in biotechnology

Diversidade de endófitos de manguezais e implicações para a sustentabilidade do ecossistema na biotecnologia

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Mangrove ecosystems are among the most productive and ecologically significant coastal habitats, providing essential services such as carbon sequestration, shoreline stabilization, and biodiversity support under extreme saline and anoxic conditions. Increasing evidence highlights the pivotal role of endophytic microorganisms residing asymptomatically within mangrove plant tissues in enhancing host adaptation and ecosystem resilience. However, global patterns of their diversity, functional traits, and biotechnological potential remain fragmented across studies. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of peer-reviewed literature published between 2000 and 2025, retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, using a structured and reproducible search strategy. A total of 187 studies were analyzed, yielding 152 identified endophytic species. Fungi accounted for approximately 58% of reported taxa, followed by bacteria (39%) and archaea (3%), with Ascomycota and Proteobacteria emerging as dominant phyla across host species and geographic regions. Functionally, mangrove endophytes contribute to nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and the production of diverse bioactive compounds with antioxidant, antibacterial, and enzymatic activities. Despite these promising attributes, significant discrepancies between culture dependent and metagenomic approaches influence diversity estimates and functional interpretations, highlighting the need for standardized methodologies and integrative multi-omics frameworks. While endophytes demonstrate clear benefits at the plant level, their large-scale ecological contributions and industrial applicability remain insufficiently validated. This review bridges ecological and biotechnological perspectives by identifying key research gaps, methodological limitations, and priority directions for future studies, ultimately supporting the development of sustainable applications derived from mangrove-associated microbial resources.

Keywords:
mangrove endophytes; microbial diversity; metagenomics; bioactive compounds; ecosystem sustainability; biotechnology

Genus	Species	Plant Tissue	Ecological Role/Function	Reference
*Bacillus*	B. subtilis,	Leaves & Stems	Antimicrobial production, plant growth promotion, abiotic stress tolerance	Abdou et al. (2023)
*Pseudomonas*	P. aeruginosa	Leaves	Organic pollutant degradation, biocontrol	Singh et al. (2024)
*Streptomyces*	S. avicenniae	Leaves	Antibiotic production, plant protection, adaptation to saline environments	El-Tarabily et al. (2021)
*Marmoricola*	M. endophyticus	Leaves	Phosphate solubilization, stress alleviation	Grgas et al. (2023)
*Micrococcus*	M. spp.	Leaves	Organic pollutant degradation, biocontrol	Krishnamurthi (2024)
*Jiella*	J. mangrovi	Leaves	Antimicrobial activity, plant growth promotion	Wang et al. (2022a)
*Staphylococcus*	S. intermedius, S. lentus	Leaves	Antimicrobial production, plant protection	Jeyachandran et al. (2025)

Metabolite Type	Example Compounds	Bacterial Genera	Plant Tissue	Biological Activities	Reference
Lipopeptides	Surfactin, Fengycin, Iturin	Bacillus subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens	Roots, Leaves	Antifungal, Antibacterial, Biocontrol	Dobrzyński et al. (2023)
Siderophores	Pyoverdine, Enterobactin	Pseudomonas, Enterobacter	Roots	Iron chelation, Pathogen suppression	Gomes et al. (2024)
Alkaloids	Indole-3-acetic acid derivatives	Burkholderia, Microbacterium	Leaves, Stems	Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, Plant growth	Krishnamurthi (2024)
Non-ribosomal Peptides	Bacitracin, Gramicidin	Bacillus	Stems, Roots	Antibacterial, Antiviral	Xiong et al. (2014)

Genus/Species	Host Mangrove Species	Bioactive Compounds / Enzymes	Functional Roles	Reference
*Streptomyces griseus*	Rhizophora apiculata	Streptomycin, Chitinase, Amylase	Antibacterial, antifungal, degradation of polysaccharides	Elabbasy et al. (2021)
Actinomadura sp.	Sonneratia alba	Anthraquinones, Cellulase	Antioxidant, degradation of plant-derived compounds	Banik et al. (2020)
Rhodococcus sp.	Avicennia officinalis	Biosurfactants, Oxygenases	Hydrocarbon degradation, bioremediation of polluted sediments	Siddique et al. (2024)
Saccharopolyspora sp.	Rhizophora mucronata	Antibiotics, Xylanase	Biocontrol of plant pathogens, lignocellulose degradation	Jia et al. (2020)

Fungal Genus/Species	Host Mangrove Species	Bioactive Compounds Functions	Reference
*Pestalotiopsis microspora*	Rhizophora mucronata	Taxol (anticancer agent)	Deshmukh et al. (2018)
*Aspergillus terreus*	Avicennia marina	Antibacterial and antioxidant compounds	Isti’anah et al. (2024)
*Penicillium citrinum*	Rhizophora apiculata	Laccase enzyme; dye decolorization	De Paula et al. (2022)
*Cladosporium cladosporioides*	Kandelia candel	Enhance salt stress tolerance and nutrient absorption	Chen et al. (2024)
*Colletotrichum gloeosporioides*	Avicennia marina	Plant growth promotion; phytohormone production	Grano-Maldonado et al. (2021)
*Alternaria alternata*	Sonneratia alba	Secondary metabolites with antifungal activity	Ranganathan and Mahalingam (2019)
*Talaromyces stipitatus*	Avicennia officinalis	Xanthones and polyketides with antibacterial properties	Nicoletti et al. (2018)

Metabolite Class	Example Compounds	Source Fungi (Genus)	Mangrove Tissue	Biological Applications	High-Impact Journal Reference
Polyketides	Cytosporones, Xyloketals	Phomopsis, Xylaria, Cytospora	Leaves, Stems	Anticancer, Antibacterial, Antioxidant	Chen et al. (2024)
Terpenoids	Sesquiterpenes, Diterpenes	Penicillium, Trichoderma	Roots, Stems	Antibacterial, Cytotoxic	Braga et al. (2024)

Mangrove Plant Tissue	Dominant Endophytic Yeast Genera	Key Species	References
Stems	Metschnikowia, Rhodotorula	Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa	Rosa et al. (2023)
Leaves	Sporobolomyces, Cryptococcus, Rhodotorula	Sporobolomyces roseus, Cryptococcus laurentii, Rhodotorula glutinis	Kot et al. (2021)
Leaves, Roots	Candida spp.	Candida tropicalis, C. parapsilosis	Hau et al. (2024)
Leaves, Branches	Pichia spp.	Pichia anomala, P. guilliermondii	Nimsi et al. (2023)

Key Species or Genus	Metabolites Produced	Ecological Role and Function	References
*Debaryomyces hansenii, Candida tropicalis*	Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), phosphate-solubilizing enzymes, organic acids ( acetic acid)	Halotolerance, phosphate solubilization, plant growth promotion under saline stress	Mir et al. (2025)
*Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa*	Lipopeptides, polyketides, antimicrobial proteins, chitinases	Systemic resistance, antimicrobial activity, protection against pathogens	Rani et al. (2021)
*Pichia anomala, P. guilliermondii*	Amylase, lipase, antimicrobial peptides	Enzyme production, inhibition of plant pathogens	Jia et al. (2020)
*Trichosporon asahii*	Antioxidant proteins	Oxidative stress protection	Zhang et al. (2016)

Plant Tissue	Dominant Archaeal Phyla	Representative Genera	Ecological Roles	References
Leaves	Thaumarchaeota	Nitrosopumilus	ROS detoxification, nutrient recycling	Fernandes et al. (2012)
Roots	Thaumarchaeota, Euryarchaeota	Nitrosopumilus, Methanobacterium, Methanosarcina	Ammonia oxidation, methane production, stress resilience	Zhang et al. (2021)
Stems	Thaumarchaeota	Nitrososphaera	Nitrogen cycling, systemic nitrogen transport	Akinola et al. (2023)

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