ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the persistence and compatibility of endophyte and grass hosts, which determine the potential host range of an endophyte. Grass endophytes, like other plant parasitic fungi, are usually limited to one or several host species for which affinity is suggested. Taxonomic characterization of endophyte species, as well as the use of endophytes in plant breeding and biotechnology, depends on the concept of host specificity or the compatibility of endophyte strains with plant genotypes. Traditionally, fungal taxonomy has been based primarily on morphological characters, which may be sufficient in most highly differentiated groups, including sexual species of Balansia or Atkinsonella. In the balansioid fungi, little is known about the genetics or inheritance of enzyme phenotypes. Isozymes are functionally similar variants of enzymes produced by the same or different gene loci, which can be separated based on net charge and size.
