Diversity and distribution of fungal endophytes associated with native Syzygium cordatum in South Africa

[摘要] Endophytes are organisms that inhabit plant organs and colonise plant tissues withoutcausing obvious signs of disease. Much research has been done to elucidate the effects thatendophytes have on their hosts, but the majority of these studies have been done on grassspecies that are considered model organisms. Evidence shows that endophytes evolvedfrom closely related pathogenic fungi, because many endophytes are latent pathogens orsaprobes that only sporulate when their hosts are stressed or dying. Hence, it is important tounderstand the principles surrounding endophyte biology and the effects that they could haveon their hosts. There are specialised mechanisms involved enabling endophyte-hostinteractions to exist and these have co-evolved over millions of years. Endophytic symbiontsaffect the growth and fitness of their hosts, as well as their ability to tolerate biotic and abioticstressors. In most cases, however, the ecological role and basis for the interaction betweenplants and their diverse assemblage of endophytes remain obscure and this is especially truefor trees. Given the prominent presence of endophytes and the large part of biologicaldiversity that they represent, further work to clarify these roles is urgently needed. Thisreview aims to establish an understanding of the theory surrounding fungal endophytes,endophyte-host interactions, modes of infection, the influence of endophytes on their hosts,the co-evolution of life-history traits and why endophytes are important in their environments.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria