Subject: Definition of endophyte

From: "Charles P. West" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 12:32:34 -0600 (CST)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 10:08:03 -0800
From: Scott Kroken <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Definition of endophyte

> Chuck, 

> I haven't read the article yet, so I decided it was not sporting to
> post this broadly, but feel free to if you feel this is germane.

Yes it's germane and you're not the only one who responds without reading 
the article.
Here's Scott Kroken's response, folks:
*****

Well, I haven't read the article yet, but I would make a plea for not
restricting the definition to the fungi (even thought I am currently
working in a fungal lab!).  There are many algae that live either one
phase of their life cycle if biphasic, or live their entire vegetative
phase inside another organism.  Just off the top of my head, in the
green algae, class Charophyceae, there is _Coleochaete nitellarum_,
which lives endosymbiotically in the cell walls of the green alga
_Chara_. In the class Ulvophyceae, there is _Chlorochytrium inclusum_
that lives in the cell walls of various foliose red algae.  In the red
algae, there is "Conchocelis rosea", the tetrasporophyte of _Porphyra_
spp. that lives in the shells of various mollusks.  There are other
examples that I am not remembering or just plain ignorant of.  

I think it is necessary to have a term that describes a particular
spatial arrangement of two symbiotic organisms.  Endophytism pairs
well with epiphytism in describing two types of more or less commensal
living arrangements.  If the host is on top of the plant, it's an
epiphyte.  If inside the plant, it's an endophyte.  Of course one can
argue that any of these specific relationships are not completely
commensal.  But, commensalism is merely a relationship that is not
strongly mutualistic nor parasitic.  It's all a continuum if the host
is benefited, harmed, or apparently neither. 

Scott K.
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Scott Kroken				 internet:  [email-masked]
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