Endophyte Essays

microbes, have focused their research efforts on the microbes that cause disease (Ainsworth, 1981). Endophytes (fungi and/or bacteria that live within the tissues of plants) largely appear to be the inverse of plant pathogens since generally they represent cryptic benign infections of healthy plants. The term endophyte (Gr. endon, within; phyton, plant) was first coined by De Bary (De Bary, 1866) and an endophyte is a bacterial or fungal microorganism, which spends the whole or part of its life cycle colonizing

involved in diseases of seedlings and cuttings. These species are generally not host specific at the seedling stage and have a wide host range. Fusarium attack can result in seedling death. Fusarium species associated with plants can be pathogens, endophytes or saprophytes. They are widespread and can be a significant threat to production nurseries. They can cause damping-off, root and bulb rots, crown rots, stem and cutting rots, leaf spots and vascular wilts. Arguably the two most important species

Statement on Research Research as a service to society has been always my main motivator; I realize that this may be considered naive, nevertheless it is the base of my commitment to the Land Grant University System. Although the impact of the Land Grant University System is very difficult to accurately measure with simple statistics, there is no doubt in mind (in agreement with many authors) that the research conducted in Universities like South Dakota State University (SDSU) is likely one of the