Endophytes and latent pathogens - Implications for the Nursery Industry
Endophytes are fungi that reside in living plant tissue for all or part of their life cycle, without causing any apparent or detectable symptoms of disease.
Although generally benign, some have the ability to develop into aggressive pathogens and cause a range of symptoms including dieback, cankers or fruit rots, when trees or plants are stressed. These types of endophytes are usually referred to as latent pathogens. Endophytic latent pathogens are an important biosecurity concern, since they can be moved undetected in plant material and once introduced into a new area, may move onto other hosts and cause disease epidemics. In this Nursery Paper we examine endophytes in more detail and consider their potential future impact on the industry.