Endophyte-Host Interactions. II. Defining Symbiosis of the Endophyte-Host Interaction

Abstract

We provide evidence that the symbiosis of fungal endophyte and plant host should only be defined in the broad sense as originally used by De Bary to mean the living together of organisms of different species. Using endophytic fungi that were isolated from healthy plant tissue,- we tested for the potential pathogenicity of the fungal isolates and did physiological experiments to understand the endophyte-host association. Due to the variability of the interaction with respect to the role of the endophyte and with respect to the physiological Status of both partners, only a definition of symbiosis that does not specify the advantages and disadvantages for the individual partners can accurately describe this interaction