Plant endophytes: bacterial and fungal associations that improve plant health, facilitate soil nutrient transformations and sustain soil ecosystems

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My research investigates beneficial associations between plants and microorganisms so as to understand how these relationships affect plant health, nutrient cycling and ecosystem sustainability. A primary focus of this work is to study plant endophytes. Endophytes are bacteria and fungi that form beneficial associations with plants, living inside plant tissues such as roots or stems or leaves, without causing harm to the plant. Many different types of bacteria and fungi form endophytic associations with plants, but little is know about the diversity and specificity of these relationships. It is important to understand plant endophytes because these bacteria or fungi can help plants grow, over come stresses like heat and drought, and even clean up the environment. Thus a main focus of my work is on the discovery and characterization of endophytes (primarily root endophytes) in a range of plants species from native vegetation to agriculture crops to plants used for land reclamation. Understanding which bacteria or fungi form endophytic associations will make it possible to learn if these are unique associations between specific microbe and plants. It will also allow us to assess the functional role of endophytes in plants. For example, some of my past research demonstrated that certain endophytic fungi improve heat and drought tolerance of crops like wheat.