Fungal endophytes from the tropics to the tundra: clues to the evolution of fungal symbioses

Endophytic fungi occur in all lineages of land plants, and in lichens as 'endolichenic fungi,' in biomes ranging from tropical forests to dry deserts and Arctic tundra. Despite their ubiquity little is known about the ecological roles and evolutionary origins of these highly diverse, avirulent symbionts. Synthesizing culture-based and culture-free studies from >150 species of plants and lichens in 10 biogeographic provinces, in vitro and in vivo assessments of functional traits, and ancestral state reconstructions derived from robust phylogenies, I will address three main questions: (1) What are the evolutionary origins of endophytism? (2) To what degree do endophytes demonstrate co-evolution with their hosts? (3) How do these previously unknown fungi clarify the structure of the fungal tree of life, and inform our understanding of major ecological transitions in the most species-rich lineages of Fungi?

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