Microbial Endophytes: Bioprospecting towards Sustainable Agriculture

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2022) | Viewed by 434

Special Issue Editor

1. Molecular Phytopathology and Mycotoxin Research, University of Göttingen, Grisebachstrasse 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
2. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Idaho and Brigham Young University, 875 Perimeter Dr, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
Interests: plant pathology; mycology; biological control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The existence of fungi inside the organs of asymptomatic plants has been known since the end of the 19th century. The modern definition describes endophytes as microorganisms that live within plants for at least a part of their life cycle without causing any visible manifestation of disease. A milestone in endophyte research was the discovery of the endophytic fungus Neotyphodium coenophialum as the causal organism of “fescue toxicosis”, a syndrome that affects cattle, sheep, and horses during summer when they are grazing or being fed with Festuca arundinacea. It was discovered that these infected plants contained several toxic alkaloids which upon livestock intake reduces weight gains or milk production. The presence of alkaloid-producing fungi inside the plant increased their tolerance of biotic stress factors. This discovery led many scientists to search for endophytic fungi that can synthesize various bioactive metabolites that may directly or indirectly be used as therapeutic agents against numerous diseases and as an agrochemical solution against plant pests and diseases. Endemic plants could possess specific endophytes that may have evolved with their host and could be a source of yet unknown novel molecules with potential pharmaceutical, agricultural or environmental significance. In this Special Issue of Agronomy, we will compile papers dealing with fungal and bacterial endophytes as biological control agents against crop diseases as an integral component of sustainable agricultural production systems. 

Dr. Christian Joseph Cumagun
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fungi
  • bacteria
  • biological control
  • endophytes

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
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