Natural Products From the Boreal Forest Ecosystem; the Microbiota

Knowledge of medicinal plants and macrofungi (mushroom, bracket and fleshy fungi) used for millennia by indigenous people throughout the world as folkloric medicines are invaluable in seeking pharmaceutical and medicinal compounds from forest resources.

In a “biorefining capacity”, the Boreal Forest biome alone harbors more than 3,200 plant species (trees, shrubs, herbs, sedges and grasses, ferns, mosses and lichens) in Ontario, as well as thousands of microbial species (many not yet discovered or identified). This unique forest ecosystem offers a rich and untapped resource to isolate and extract bioproducts of high value. In the forest biome, interaction exists between different microbial consortia (archaea, bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, yeasts) as well as with forest plant species. This includes microorganisms inhabiting the forest soil, decaying forest matter (wood, leaf litter), as well as the phytophyllosphere that includes epiphytes and endophytes largely living in harmony on plant surfaces or within plants (respectively) without causing plant ill-health unless invoked by stressful conditions such as injury when these microbes become invasive causing disease symptoms. The other microbial regime living on plants are the phytopathogens, which cause disease and ultimately the death of the plant itself, and are responsible for recycling carbon back into the biosphere. The microbiota of the forest ecosystem is thus a rich resource open to technology development that can lead to bioactive products beneficial to mankind, and as veterinary medicines. The microbiota can deliver distinct economic benefits that hold many applications starting with materials for the most innovative and cutting-edge pharmaceuticals. Altogether, the forest ecosystem is Nature’s pharmacopeia; a potential source for pharmaceutically-active chemicals for human and veterinary health-care.