AUTHOR=Shehata Hanan R. , Ettinger Cassandra L. , Eisen Jonathan A. , Raizada Manish N. TITLE=Genes Required for the Anti-fungal Activity of a Bacterial Endophyte Isolated from a Corn Landrace Grown Continuously by Subsistence Farmers Since 1000 BC JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=7 YEAR=2016 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01548 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01548 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=
Endophytes are microbes that inhabit internal plant tissues without causing disease. Some endophytes are known to combat pathogens. The corn (maize) landrace Chapalote has been grown continuously by subsistence farmers in the Americas since 1000 BC, without the use of fungicides, and the crop remains highly valued by farmers, in part for its natural tolerance to pests. We hypothesized that the pathogen tolerance of Chapalote may, in part, be due to assistance from its endophytes. We previously identified a bacterial endophyte from Chapalote seeds,