ABSTRACT
Endophytes are microorganisms that colonize the intracellular spaces within the plant tissues without exerting any adverse or pathological effects. Plant diseases cause losses of approximately 16% globally. Thus, management measures must be implemented to mitigate losses and guarantee food production. In addition to traditional management measures, biological control has gained ground in agriculture due to its enormous potential. Endophytic microorganisms internally colonize plant tissues and have the potential to act as control agents, such as biological agents or elicitors in the process of induced resistance and in attenuating abiotic stresses. In this chapter, the mode of action of endophytic microorganisms which can act in controlling plant diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses and several examples in which endophytes have been found to reduce the damage caused by pathogens, have been explored in depth. This is due to their arsenal of molecules generated during the interaction by which they form a kind of biological shield in the plant. Furthermore, considering that endophytic microogranisms such as bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi, could be an important tool in managing plant diseases caused by phytopathogens due to the large amount of biologically active substances produced, bioprospecting endophytic microorganisms is tending to increase and generate valuable products for agriculture.
