ABSTRACT
Himalayan forest cover is predominantly constituted of Pinus species belonging to Pinaceae family. Pinus has a great ethnobotanical importance and with its seeds, bark, and roots used as traditional medicine in various parts of northern India. Coniferous trees are suggested to be the reservoirs of enormous microbial wealth which is yet to be characterized and explored for human welfare. There are various studies on exploring the diversity and interaction of microbes (endophytes) associated with the above- and belowground part of coniferous plants. Himalayan blue pine faces several constraints in its successful regeneration in the field due to consistent pathogen attacks at primary stages of plant establishment posing a serious threat to forest nurseries. The ecological and evolutionary dynamics of natural and agro-ecosystems that shape the microbial communities in these ecosystems are very complex. Therefore, a concerted effort required to understand the microbial flux in natural and agro-ecosystems, the association of the endophytes with the tree species growing in western Himalayas, and their role in establishment of the plants under varied ecological settings.
