ABSTRACT
Our group has been studying endophytic microorganisms of medicinal plants found in the Brazilian biomes, Atlantic Forest, Pantanal and Cerrado for over 10 years. The main goals are to catalog the diversity of endophytes in these ecosystems in order to understand the impact of environmental and anthropological factors on community composition, and to reinforce conservation measures in these biomes, as well as to conserve biodiversity by keeping the isolates in a Brazilian culture collection. An alternative to demonstrate the importance of conservation programs for hotspot biomes is the economic value associated with biodiversity assessed through bioprospecting studies. Herein, we discuss the isolation, identification and bioprospecting of endophytes of four medicinal plants: Vochysia divergens, Stryphnodendron adstringens, Maytenus ilicifolia and Schinus terebinthifolius found in Brazil; with emphasis on the identification of microorganisms, to ensure correct estimation of species richness and reveal important information about the biochemical properties of the species under consideration.
