Fungal endophytes from saline-adapted shrubs induce salinity stress tolerance in tomato seedlings.

To meet the food and feed demands of the growing population, global food production needs to double by 2050. Climate change-induced challenges to food crops, especially soil salinization, remain a major threat to food production. We hypothesize that endophytic fungi isolated from salt-adapted host plants can confer salinity stress tolerance to salt-sensitive crops.

Culturable Bacterial Endophytes Associated With Shrubs Growing Along the Draw-Down Zone of Lake Bogoria, Kenya: Assessment of Antifungal Potential Against and Induction of Bean Root Rot Protection.

Vascular shrubs growing along the draw-down zones of saline lakes must develop adaptive mechanisms to cope with high salinity, erratic environmental conditions, and other biotic and abiotic stresses. Microbial endophytes from plants growing in these unique environments harbor diverse metabolic and genetic profiles that play an important role in plant growth, health, and survival under stressful conditions. A variety of bacterial endophytes have been isolated from salt tolerant plants but their potential applications in agriculture have not been fully explored.