ABSTRACT
Plants exist in association with microbes and improve adaptation to changing climatic conditions. The number of associated microbes fluctuates based on the physiological condition of plant and its habitat. Among the microbes, fungi are important partners of plants as endophytes, arbuscular mycorrhizae, and dark septate endophytes that provide benefits to host by exchange of nutrients. Both the aerial and underground parts of plants get colonized by fungi through horizontal and vertical transmission. The colonization by fungi (unicellular/multicellular-filamentous) creates the mycobiome of plants that exchange few genes from their host and develop tendency to develop bioactive secondary metabolites. Presently, the drug-resistant strains of pathogens are more common, and the products from plant-associated fungi are found in novel broad-spectrum therapeutic agents. In the literature, available reports are traced on the investigation of endophytic fungal communities from lower (algae, lichens, mosses, and ferns) and higher plants (angiosperms and gymnosperms). The applications of plant-associated fungi for better cropping systems were reviewed to support green, sustainable agriculture.
