Neotropical Endophytic Fungi

Professor Luiz Henrique Rosa works at the Department of Microbiology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He holds an MSc and PhD at Microbiology from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil and completed a sabbatical at the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-ARS) in USA. Since 2005, his work has focused on the taxonomy of fungi and bioprospecting of their bioactive natural products.

He has been the principal investigator for various research projects on taxonomy, diversity, ecology, and bioprospecting of endophytic fungi associated with plants living in ecosystems such as Brazilian savannah, Amazonian rainforest, Atlantic rainforest, Pantanal wetland, and Brazilian rupestrian grasslands. As a result of these research activities, several endophytic fungi were obtained and deposited in the Collection of Microorganisms and Cells of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, for the ex situ preservation of Brazilian fungal biodiversity; perhaps one of the major endophytic fungal collection of the world. Many of these fungi have been shown to be capable of producing bioactive metabolites that can be used against neglected tropical diseases and as agrochemical pesticides less toxic to mammals.