Endophytic Colonisation of and by Fungal Endophytes Promotes Seedlings Growth and Hampers the Reproductive Traits, Development, and Survival of the Greenhouse Whitefly, .

In the scope of mitigating the negative impacts of pesticide use and managing greenhouse whiteflies, sustainably, 16 endophytic fungal isolates from five different genera (, , , , and ) were screened for their ability to colonise two preferred host plant species, namely, tomato ( L.) and French bean ( L.), through seed inoculation. Seven and nine isolates were endophytic to and , respectively, where significant differences in the endophytic colonisation rates were observed among the fungal isolates in and its plant parts, with a significant interaction between the isolates and plant parts in . F3ST1, M2RT4, F5S21, and KF2R41 successfully colonised all the plant parts of both hosts and therefore were selected and further evaluated for their endophytic persistence, effect on plant growth, and pathogenicity to . adults and F1 progeny. The four endophytes remained in both host plants for the 5-week assessment with varied colonisation rates related to the strong interaction with the time, isolates, and plant parts in both hosts. The effect of the same endophytes on the different host growth parameters varied in and , with M2RT4 not boosting the growth in both host plants while . F5S21 resulted in enhanced shoot biomass in . F5S21 and . KF2R41 inoculated plants and F3ST1, M2RT4, and . KF2R41 inoculated plants had significantly lower oviposition, while nymph development in both hosts was significantly prolonged in all the endophytically-colonised plants. The endophytes F3ST1 and M2RT4 significantly reduced the longevity/survival of the exposed adults and the progeny in both and . The findings demonstrate the attributes of the various endophytes in host plant growth promotion as well as their effects on the life-history parameters of and could consequently be developed as potential endophytic fungal-based biopesticides for the sustainable management of the pest in and cropping systems.