Microbial Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Canal Road, Jammu Tawi, 180 001, India.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2015 Apr;99(7):2955-65. doi: 10.1007/s00253-015-6487-3. Epub 2015 Mar 10.
Endophytism is the phenomenon of mutualistic association of a plant with a microorganism wherein the microbe lives within the tissues of the plant without causing any symptoms of disease. In addition to being a treasured biological resource, endophytes play diverse indispensable functions in nature for plant growth, development, stress tolerance, and adaptation. Our understanding of endophytism and its ecological aspects are overtly limited, and we have only recently started to appreciate its essence. Endophytes may impact plant biology through the production of diverse chemical entities including, but not limited to, plant growth hormones and by modulating the gene expression of defense and other secondary metabolic pathways of the host. Studies have shown differential recruitment of endophytes in endophytic populations of plants growing in the same locations, indicating host specificity and that endophytes evolve in a coordinated fashion with the host plants. Endophytic technology can be employed for the efficient production of agricultural and economically important plants and plant products. The rational application of endophytes to manipulate the microbiota, intimately associated with plants, can help in enhancement of production of agricultural produce, increased production of key metabolites in medicinal and aromatic plants, as well as adaption to new bio-geographic regions through tolerance to various biotic and abiotic conditions. However, the potential of endophytic biology can be judiciously harnessed only when we obtain insight into the molecular mechanism of this unique mutualistic relationship. In this paper, we present a discussion on endophytes, endophytism, their significance, and diverse functions in nature as unraveled by the latest research to understand this universal natural phenomenon.
内生现象是指植物与微生物之间互利共生的现象，其中微生物生活在植物组织内而不会引起任何疾病症状。内生菌不仅是一种宝贵的生物资源，而且在植物生长、发育、耐受压力和适应等方面，它们在自然界中发挥着多样化且不可或缺的功能。我们对内生现象及其生态方面的理解明显有限，直到最近才开始了解其本质。内生菌可能通过产生多种化学物质来影响植物生物学，这些物质包括但不限于植物生长激素，并通过调节宿主防御和其他次生代谢途径的基因表达来发挥作用。研究表明，在同一地点生长的植物内生种群中，内生菌的招募存在差异，这表明宿主特异性和内生菌与宿主植物以协调的方式进化。内生技术可用于高效生产农业和经济上重要的植物和植物产品。合理应用内生菌来操纵与植物密切相关的微生物群，可以帮助提高农业生产的产量，增加药用和芳香植物中关键代谢物的产量，并通过耐受各种生物和非生物条件来适应新的生物地理区域。然而，只有当我们深入了解这种独特的互利共生关系的分子机制时，才能明智地利用内生生物学的潜力。本文通过最新的研究，就内生菌、内生现象及其在自然界中的意义和多样化功能进行了讨论，以帮助我们理解这一普遍的自然现象。
