Chapter 2
Bioefficacy of Endophytes in the Control
of Plant Diseases
Fernando Matias Romero, Amira Susana Nieva, Oscar Adolfo Ruiz,
Andrés Gárriz, and Franco Rubén Rossi
Abstract Plants establish multiple kinds of interactions with microorganisms,
which can be neutral, beneficial, or detrimental for the plant host. Interactions also
occur between endophytic microorganisms that colonize inner parts of plants, beneficial in nature, and able to promote plant growth both directly or indirectly. Direct
plant-growth promotion includes the production of phytohormones, nitrogen fixation, and an increase in nutrient availability. On the other hand, endophytes can
promote plant growth indirectly by contributing some beneficial attributes to plant
health. Direct interaction between pathogens and endophytes also induces systemic
resistance in the host, which allows the plant to respond faster and/or more intensively upon pathogen infection. Usually, endophytes share more than one of these
mechanisms so the outcome of the interaction is the sum of different strategies. In
this chapter, review on bacterial and fungal endophytes as potential biological control
agents and their mechanisms of action have been documented. Besides it analyzes the
most recent information about the nutrient uptake/management, specifically iron and
nitrogen nutrition, with the biological control exerted by beneficial microorganisms.
Keywords Endophytes · Biological control · Plant protection · Biological control
agents
2.1 Introduction
Control of plant diseases that reduce crop yields is a pressing need in modern agriculture, as the demands of stable and healthy food supplies by a growing human
population must be guaranteed (Emmert and Handelsman 1999; Maheshwari 2013;
Maheshwari and Annapurna 2017). Although there are several strategies to control
plant diseases, there is an increasing interest in finding new technologies that can
F. M. Romero (B) · A. S. Nieva · O. A. Ruiz · A. Gárriz · F. R. Rossi
Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús, Universidad Nacional de General San Martin-Consejo Nacional
de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (INTECH/UNSAM-CONICET), Chascomús, Argentina
e-mail: mromero@intech.gov.ar
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. K. Maheshwari and S. Dheeman (eds.), Endophytes: Mineral Nutrient
Management, Volume 3, Sustainable Development and Biodiversity 26,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65447-4_2
11
Bioefficacy of Endophytes in the Control
of Plant Diseases
Fernando Matias Romero, Amira Susana Nieva, Oscar Adolfo Ruiz,
Andrés Gárriz, and Franco Rubén Rossi
Abstract Plants establish multiple kinds of interactions with microorganisms,
which can be neutral, beneficial, or detrimental for the plant host. Interactions also
occur between endophytic microorganisms that colonize inner parts of plants, beneficial in nature, and able to promote plant growth both directly or indirectly. Direct
plant-growth promotion includes the production of phytohormones, nitrogen fixation, and an increase in nutrient availability. On the other hand, endophytes can
promote plant growth indirectly by contributing some beneficial attributes to plant
health. Direct interaction between pathogens and endophytes also induces systemic
resistance in the host, which allows the plant to respond faster and/or more intensively upon pathogen infection. Usually, endophytes share more than one of these
mechanisms so the outcome of the interaction is the sum of different strategies. In
this chapter, review on bacterial and fungal endophytes as potential biological control
agents and their mechanisms of action have been documented. Besides it analyzes the
most recent information about the nutrient uptake/management, specifically iron and
nitrogen nutrition, with the biological control exerted by beneficial microorganisms.
Keywords Endophytes · Biological control · Plant protection · Biological control
agents
2.1 Introduction
Control of plant diseases that reduce crop yields is a pressing need in modern agriculture, as the demands of stable and healthy food supplies by a growing human
population must be guaranteed (Emmert and Handelsman 1999; Maheshwari 2013;
Maheshwari and Annapurna 2017). Although there are several strategies to control
plant diseases, there is an increasing interest in finding new technologies that can
F. M. Romero (B) · A. S. Nieva · O. A. Ruiz · A. Gárriz · F. R. Rossi
Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús, Universidad Nacional de General San Martin-Consejo Nacional
de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (INTECH/UNSAM-CONICET), Chascomús, Argentina
e-mail: mromero@intech.gov.ar
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. K. Maheshwari and S. Dheeman (eds.), Endophytes: Mineral Nutrient
Management, Volume 3, Sustainable Development and Biodiversity 26,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65447-4_2
11