Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
2053864 Fungal Ecology 2013 8 Pages PDF
Abstract

Many fungi belonging to mostly Ascomycota inhabit living tissues of plants of all major lineages without causing any visible symptoms. Termed horizontally transmitted endophytes, they have been investigated mostly for their capacity to produce bioactive secondary metabolites. However, many questions regarding the interactions between endophytes and their plant hosts, phytophagous insects and other fungi remain unanswered. This review highlights some of these areas of endophyte biology about which very little or no knowledge exists. Information garnered' using modern methodologies' on these grey areas of ‘endophytism’ (endophytic mode of lifestyle) would help immensely in understanding the evolution of endophytes of aerial plant tissues and in exploiting endophytes in various fields of biotechnology.

Related Topics
Life Sciences Agricultural and Biological Sciences Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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