Abstract
Endophytes belong to a widespread group of microorganisms that colonise intracellular and intercellular spaces in all known plant parts but do not cause diseases or major morphological changes to the host. Endophytic bacteria ubiquitously colonise plant internal tissues, where they can form a variety of interactions, including commensalistic, symbiotic, trophobiotic and mutualistic. Endophytic bacteria produce pharmaceutically important compounds such as antimicrobials, antioxidants, industrial enzymes, antidiabetics and anti-cancer agents. In addition, endophytes can also support their host by producing a variety of natural products for potential use in medicine, agriculture or industry. This group of bacteria can have a tremendous impact on plant communities, raising their fitness by endowing tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress. There are great prospects for searching, selecting and studying new endophytic bacteria species in order to create new microbial preparations for adaptive crop production, while reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture. The present review summarises studies to date about endophytic bacteria, including topics such as isolation methods, the diversity of these bacteria and their biological roles.
Highlights
The term endophyte was initially introduced by de Bary in 1866 to describe any organism found within the plants tissues, distinct from the epiphytes, which reside on the plant’s surface (de Bary 1866)
Various definitions of endophytes have been used in the literature, terms like endophytic microorganisms, which are described as asymptomatic microbes residing in plants (Carroll 1991), whereas the bacteria that spend part or all of their life cycle colonising intra-cellular or inter-cellular spaces in petiole, leaves, stem and roots within healthy plant tissues are usually considered endophytic bacteria (Wilson 1995)
Endophytic bacteria contribute to plant adaptation in several habitats and are of considerable ecological significance, since they enhance soil quality and fertility as judged by plant development
Summary
The term endophyte was initially introduced by de Bary in 1866 to describe any organism found within the plants tissues, distinct from the epiphytes, which reside on the plant’s surface (de Bary 1866). Endophytes are regarded as microbes which are culturable or occupy the inside of plant tissues, do not harm their hosts and do not grow external structures (Araújo et al 2001). This description has been revised by Mendes & Azevedo (2007) who relegate endophytic microorganisms to two groups: group I includes all those that don’t generate external structures from the host, and group II includes those that can produce external structures, such as mycorrhytic fungal nodules and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Olite production (Brader et al 2014; Singh et al 2017; Palanichamy et al 2018)
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