Mechanisms of fungal endophytes in plant protection against pathogens

Abstract

Fungal endophytes are a group of microorganism associated with plant and have attracted a great interest to botanist, microbiologist and ecologist. Since they have the ability to benefit host plant growth and defense and can produce various potential commercially valued secondary metabolites, an increasing number of reports pay attention to endophytic screening, identification and production. However, little is known about the regulation of plant-fungal endophytes interaction and how fungal endophytes protect plant from pathogens. This review summarized current researches on fungal endophytes as biocontrol agent against plant pathogens and proposed that endophytes inhibit plant pathogen mainly by inducing phytoalexins production and ecological occupation.   Key words: Fungal endophyte, pathogens, plant protection.