Sarah Brown
Endophytes are endosymbionts, often bacteria or fungi, that live within a plant for at least part of its life cycle without causing harm or disease. They are found in nearly every land plant, and it is estimated that there could be approximately 1 million endophytic fungi worldwide. Endophytes have been found to exist in the tissues of liverworts, hornworts, mosses, lycophytes, equisetopsids, ferns, and seed plants. Endophytes are known to promote the growth of their host plants by producing secondary metabolites, enhancing the plant's resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. While most endophytic fungi do not produce mushrooms, some mushroom varieties are known to be associated with endophytes, such as Agaricus bisporus, also known as the button mushroom.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | Endophytes are endosymbionts, often bacteria or fungi, that live within a plant for at least part of its life cycle without causing disease. |
| Types | Endophytes include algae, fungi, bacteria, actinomycetes, and insects. |
| Location | Endophytes are found in the above-ground tissues of liverworts, hornworts, mosses, lycophytes, equisetopsids, ferns, and seed plants. They are also found in aquatic and agricultural ecosystems. |
| Benefits to Host Plant | Endophytes promote the growth of host plants, enhance nutrient absorption, and improve resistance to pests, pathogens, and herbivores. They also help the plant adapt to abiotic stressors, such as drought. |
| Metabolites | Endophytes produce a wide variety of bioactive secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, and phenols. These metabolites have potential pharmaceutical applications and can be used in drug discovery. |
| Mushroom Varieties | Agaricus bisporus, commonly known as button mushrooms, are associated with endophytes. Agaricus blazei has been found to be associated with actinobacteria. |
| Classification | Endophytes can be classified as systemic (true) or nonsystemic (transient) based on their genetics, biology, and transmission mechanism. |
| Transmission | Endophytes may be transmitted vertically (directly from parent to offspring) or horizontally (among individuals). |
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What You'll Learn
Endophytes are found in nearly all land plants
Endophytes are a diverse group of organisms that live within a plant for at least part of its life cycle, forming a symbiotic relationship with the plant without causing any harm or disease. They are found in nearly all land plants and ecosystems, and include microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Endophytes have been found in all species of plants studied so far, and they play a crucial role in promoting plant growth and health.
The presence of endophytes in plants has been recorded for over 400 million years, indicating that these relationships evolved alongside higher plants. Endophytes are transmitted either vertically, directly from parent to offspring, or horizontally, among individuals. Vertical transmission occurs when fungal hyphae penetrate the embryo within the host's seeds, resulting in the clonal transmission of fungal endophytes. Horizontal transmission, on the other hand, involves the reproduction of fungi through asexual conidia or sexual spores, allowing endophytes to spread between plants in a population or community.
Endophytes provide numerous benefits to their host plants. They enhance plant growth and improve the plant's ability to acquire nutrients, such as phosphorus, rock phosphate, and atmospheric nitrogen. Additionally, they increase the plant's resilience to both abiotic and biotic stressors, such as drought, poor soils, insects, pathogens, and herbivores. Endophytes accomplish this by producing secondary metabolites, hormones, and other compounds that boost the plant's defence mechanisms.
Endophytes are also of great interest to humans due to their potential medicinal and pharmacological applications. They are known to produce a wide range of bioactive substances, including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antioxidant compounds. Some specific compounds produced by endophytes include Taxol, an anti-cancer drug, and Cryptocandin, a molecule with potent anti-fungal properties. The study of endophytes and their interactions with plants is an ongoing area of research, and many endophyte-plant relationships are yet to be fully understood.
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They are bacteria or fungi that live inside plants
Endophytes are bacteria or fungi that live inside plants. They are found in nearly every land plant, with an estimated 1 million endophytic fungi varieties worldwide. Endophytes are ubiquitous and have been found in all plant species studied to date, including mosses, ferns, liverworts, hornworts, equisetopsids, lycophytes, and spermatophytes. They are transmitted either vertically (directly from parent to offspring) or horizontally (among individuals).
Endophytes form a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with their host plants, aiding in their health and survival. They do this by producing hormones such as indoleacetic acid, biosynthesizing and acquiring nutrients for plant growth and development, and secreting metabolites to protect the host plant from invaders and stressors. In return, plants provide habitats and nutrients for endophytic fungi. Endophytes are also capable of producing bioactive substances and compounds that are identical or similar to pharmacological activities identified from plants. For example, the endophytic fungus Taxomyces andreanae, isolated from the Taxus brevifolia tree, can produce the "anticancer" compound Taxol.
Endophytic fungi have been of great interest in the last few decades due to their potential to produce biologically active products. They are a rich source of functional secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, phenols, phenyl propanoids, quinines, indole derivatives, amines, alkaloids, amides, pyrrolizidines, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, lignans, isocoumarin derivatives, peptides, phenolic acids, chlorinated metabolites, and aliphatic compounds. Some endophytic fungi can produce the same bioactive compounds as their host plants, such as camptothecine, hypericin, vinblastine, paclitaxel, podophyllotoxin, and diosgenin.
While endophytes are typically bacteria or fungi, they can also include algae, actinomycetes, and insects. They are often transmitted via fungal hyphae penetrating the embryo within the host's seeds, or through reproduction of the fungi via asexual conidia or sexual spores. Endophytes can also be classified as either systemic (true) or nonsystemic (transient), based on their genetics, biology, and mechanism of transmission from host to host.
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Endophytes produce bioactive compounds with medicinal properties
Endophytes are endosymbionts, often bacteria or fungi, that live within a plant for at least part of its life cycle without causing disease. They are found in nearly every land plant, with estimates suggesting there could be around 1 million endophytic fungi worldwide. Endophytes produce a wide variety of bioactive compounds with medicinal properties.
Endophytes are a diverse group of organisms that colonize the internal tissues of plants. They form a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with their host plant, enhancing the plant's health and survival. In return, the plant provides habitat and nutrients for the endophytes. Endophytes promote the growth of host plants by directly producing secondary metabolites, enhancing the plant's resistance to pests and diseases. They also improve the plant's ability to tolerate abiotic stresses, such as drought, and increase its adaptability to environmental changes.
The production of bioactive compounds by endophytes has been associated with the evolution of the host microorganisms. Endophytes may have incorporated genetic information from higher plants, allowing them to adapt to their host and perform protective functions. These bioactive compounds can be categorized into various functional groups, including alkaloids, benzopyranones, quinones, flavonoids, phenolic acids, steroids, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids, among others.
Endophytes are a valuable source of bioactive compounds with potential applications in medicine, agriculture, food, and cosmetics industries. For example, the endophytic fungus Taxomyces andreanae, isolated from the Taxus brevifolia tree, can produce the Taxol "anticancer" compound. Additionally, endophytes have been found to produce other important bioactive compounds such as camptothecin, with cytotoxic and antifungal properties, and phaeosphaones D 77, which exhibits strong mushroom tyrosinase inhibition activity.
The study of endophytes and their interactions with host plants is an exciting area of scientific research, with potential implications for sustainable biosynthesis and drug discovery. By manipulating the plant's endophytes, it may be possible to enhance the production of specific bioactive compounds and develop new treatments for various diseases.
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They have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with their host plant
Endophytic fungi are a diverse group of fungi that live in plant tissues throughout their entire or partial life cycle. They are found in a wide variety of plant species, from liverworts and mosses to ferns and seed plants, in ecosystems ranging from the Arctic to tropical forests and agricultural fields.
Endophytes form a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with their host plants, providing advantages to the host while also benefiting themselves. They colonize the internal tissues of plants without causing any harm or visible disease, and their presence can even help defend against phytopathogens. Endophytes can enhance the plant's immune system by producing bioactive secondary metabolites and hormones, such as indoleacetic acid, which increase the plant's resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. These metabolites can include important medicinal compounds that were initially thought to be produced only by the host plant. For example, certain endophytic fungi can produce the same bioactive compounds as their host plants, such as camptothecine, hypericin, vinblastine, and paclitaxel.
The relationship between endophytic fungi and their host plants is flexible and can be influenced by slight genetic differences in both the fungi and the plant. This relationship can take the form of mutualism, antagonism, or neutralism. In a mutualistic symbiosis, the fungi and the host plant work together to achieve a beneficial symbiotic continuum, with the fungi enhancing the plant's health and survival by aiding in issues such as disease resistance, water stress, and nutrient acquisition.
In return for these benefits, the host plant provides shelter and nutrients, creating a safe environment for the fungi to complete their life cycles during colonization. This mutualistic relationship has become an important subject in plant research, as it can potentially be manipulated to produce desired drug compounds through bioengineering.
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Endophytes are transmitted either vertically or horizontally
Endophytes are a group of organisms that colonize the internal tissues of plants without causing any harm or disease to the host plant. They are found in nearly every land plant, with an estimated 1 million endophytic fungi varieties existing worldwide. Endophytes include fungi, bacteria, and viruses.
On the other hand, horizontal transmission occurs when endophytes spread among individuals within a plant population or community. This typically happens through the reproduction of the fungi via asexual conidia or sexual spores, which can be dispersed through soil or air. Horizontal transmission is believed to result in a looser relationship between the endophytes and the plant, as the endophytes can be transmitted to multiple hosts and are not dependent on a single host for survival.
The mode of transmission can impact the relationship dynamics between the endophytes and their host plants. Vertical transmission tightly couples the fitness of the host and the symbiont, promoting mutualism. In contrast, horizontal transmission may result in a more variable relationship, as the ecological context and interactions with other species can influence transmission dynamics.
While vertical transmission has been observed in several plant species, horizontal transmission is thought to be more common, especially in certain types of plants such as forbs. However, recent studies have challenged this assumption, providing evidence of vertical transmission in forbs as well. The discovery of vertical transmission in forbs suggests that the relationship between endophytes and their hosts may be more complex and mutualistic than previously believed.
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Frequently asked questions
Endophytes are endosymbionts, often bacteria or fungi, that live within a plant for at least part of its life cycle without causing apparent disease. They are found in nearly every land plant.
Most endophytic fungi do not produce mushrooms. Some examples include Taxomyces andreanae, which was isolated from the Taxus brevifolia tree, and Acremonium sp., which is isolated from the European yew plant. Agaricus bisporus, also known as the button mushroom, is also associated with endophytes.
Endophytes promote the growth of their host plants by producing secondary metabolites, which enhance the plant's resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. They can also biosynthesize medically important "phytochemicals" and hormones such as indoleacetic acid. Additionally, they can help with nutrient absorption and provide defense mechanisms against pathogens and herbivores.
