DOE OSTI · 3002033
Fungal endophytes
Abstract
Organisms are commonly grouped into ecological guilds that reflect their shared resource use and similar ecological roles. The guild concept has been used to categorize the vast diversity of the fungal kingdom (estimated at 2.2–5 million species) into groups of fungi with common lifestyles, such as mycorrhizal symbionts, pathogens of animals and plants, and the group that is the focus of this primer — fungal endophytes of plants. Fungal endophytes have resisted scientists’ attempts to silo organisms into neat assemblages. In conclusion, scattered across the fungal tree of life and lacking few diagnostic characteristics, they are defined less by what they are than by what they are not.
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Cosner, Julian [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); US Department of Energy (USDOE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER)] (ORCID:0009000768412270), Pandharikar, Gaurav [US Department of Energy (USDOE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER); French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), Nancy (France). Interactions Arbres-Microorganismes (IAM); Universite de Lorraine, Nancy (France)] (ORCID:0000000243185549), Tremble, Keaton [US Department of Energy (USDOE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Duke University, Durham, NC (United States)] (ORCID:0000000207882830), Nash, Jake [US Department of Energy (USDOE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Duke University, Durham, NC (United States)] (ORCID:0000000219947128), Rush, Tomás A. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); US Department of Energy (USDOE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER)] (ORCID:0000000232071466), Vilgalys, Rytas [US Department of Energy (USDOE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Duke University, Durham, NC (United States)], Veneault-Fourrey, Claire [US Department of Energy (USDOE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER); French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), Nancy (France). Interactions Arbres-Microorganismes (IAM); Universite de Lorraine, Nancy (France)]. 2025-10-06. Fungal endophytes. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.08.058
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