// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy was the endophyte sad? It was feeling a little "inside" itself.

Neotyphodium coenophialum in leaves of tall fescue

Bradyrhizobium japonicum in root nodules of soybean

Endophytes are microorganisms, primarily fungi and bacteria, that live within the tissues of plants without causing apparent disease symptoms for at least part of their life cycle. Some of them are mutualistic symbionts with beneficial effects on their host, such as improved growth or resistance against disease or environmental stress, and are being used as microbial inoculants. However, pathogens and saprophytes may also be endophytic at some point of their life cycle. Endophytes are distinct from mycorrhizal fungi or rhizosphere microbes in that they live entirely within the plant. Most endophytes known are bacteria or fungi, although there are also some endophytic algae and oomycetes.

This list contains genera with endophytic species (but which may also have non-endophytic species). Species are only listed in notable cases. Where specific variants or cultivars of a species are endophytic, this is detailed on the taxon's page. The host range is "wide" when it does not include only a specific lineage of plants; in that case, the lineage is given.

Bacteria

See also Rhizobia for the nitrogen-fixing bacteria on roots of legumes (Fabaceae).

Genus/species	Phylum	Class	Order	Host range	Roots/shoots colonized?
Acidovorax facilis	Proteobacteria	Betaproteobacteria	Burkholderiales	?	?
Bradyrhizobium	Proteobacteria	Alphaproteobacteria	Rhizobiales	legumes	roots
Rhizobium	Proteobacteria	Alphaproteobacteria	Rhizobiales	legumes	roots
Rhodococcus rhodochrous	Actinobacteria	Actinobacteria	Actinomycetales	?	?
Rhodococcus rhodochrous	Actinobacteria	Actinobacteria	Actinomycetales	?	?

Fungi

Genus/species	Phylum	Class	Order	Host range	Roots/shoots colonized?
Colletotrichum	Ascomycota	Sordariomycetes	Glomerellales	wide	shoots & roots
Curvularia	Ascomycota	Dothideomycetes	Pleosporales	wide	shoots & roots
Epichloë	Ascomycota	Sordariomycetes	Hypocreales	grasses	shoots
Fusarium	Ascomycota	Sordariomycetes	Hypocreales	wide	shoots & roots
Mycosphaerella	Ascomycota	Dothideomycetes	Capnodiales	?	?
Neotyphodium	Ascomycota	Sordariomycetes	Hypocreales	grasses	shoots
Piriformospora	Basidiomycota	Agaricomycetes	Sebacinales	wide	roots
Cladosporium	Ascomycota	Dothideomycetes	Capnodiales	wide
Serendipita	Basidiomycota	Agaricomycetes	Sebacinales	wide	roots

Algae and oomycetes

Genus/species	Phylum	Class	Order	Host range	Roots/shoots colonized?
Pythium oligandrum	Heterokontophyta,	Oomycota	Pythiales	wide	roots

See also

• List of symbiotic organisms
• List of symbiotic relationships
• Plant pathology
• Plant use of endophytic fungi in defense