The Hidden World within Plants: Ecological and Evolutionary Considerations for Defining Functioning of Microbial Endophytes

2015/07/02 by Pablo R. Hardoim, Leonard S. van Overbeek, Gabriele Berg +5 · 4 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases #Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity #Plant and fungal interactions

paper · pdf · doi:10.1128/mmbr.00050-14

openalex publication_date 2015/07/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

All plants are inhabited internally by diverse microbial communities comprising bacterial, archaeal, fungal, and protistic taxa. These microorganisms showing endophytic lifestyles play crucial roles in plant development, growth, fitness, and diversification. The increasing awareness of and information on endophytes provide insight into the complexity of the plant microbiome. The nature of plant-endophyte interactions ranges from mutualism to pathogenicity. This depends on a set of abiotic and biotic factors, including the genotypes of plants and microbes, environmental conditions, and the dynamic network of interactions within the plant biome. In this review, we address the concept of endophytism, considering the latest insights into evolution, plant ecosystem functioning, and multipartite interactions.

Citations

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Cited by

• Are Fungal Endophytes Merely Mycorrhizal Copycats? The Role of Fungal Endophytes in the Adaptation of Plants to Metal Toxicity
• Endosymbionts in cranberry: Diversity, effect on plant growth, and pathogen biocontrol
• Symbiosis in eukaryotic evolution
• Endosymbiont [wikipedia]