Diversity, Ecology, and Conservation of Fungal and Bacterial Endophytes

Abstract

Every plant present on the earth is accompanied by internal association of microbes generally pronounced as endophytes. Bacterial and fungal endophytic microbes are among one of them. Their presence was noted in various niches ranging from mountain to sea, from forest to desert, and, moreover, in cold and in hot spring, copper mine wasteland, agronomic crops, prairie plants, deepwater rice, and grass ecosystem. These endophytic microbes are agriculturally important because of their various plant growth-promoting traits. They are found to inhabit the seeds, roots, stems, and leaves and even the periderm. These endophytic microbes generally enter the plant tissues via several “hotspots” like root system and mitigate with biotic and abiotic stresses, help to cure human diseases by producing several secondary metabolites, help in the induction and expression of plant immunity, exclude plant pathogens by niche competition, as well as actively participate in phenylpropanoid metabolism and antioxidant activities. The discoveries of novel bioactive compound and defense activator like antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, and antitumor compounds, antibiotics, secondary metabolites, and volatile insecticides attributed to these endophytes are utilized as therapeutic agents in the field of pharmaceutical, medicine, agriculture, and industries. The conservation of endophytic microbes and their gene pools is an emerging and vital issue, even though the development is scary.