Abstract
Endophyte is an endosymbiotic bacterium or fungus that lives within a plant for at least part of its life and exhibit complex interactions with their hosts. Bacteria and fungi growing in natural ecosystem have been widely used in the production of bioactive products and bioremediation, but potential of endophytes, have not been fully exploited. Therefore, great efforts to develop endophyte resources could bring us a variety of benefits, such as novel and effective bioactive compounds that cannot be synthesized by chemical reactions. Endophytes are capable to synthesize biologically active substances similar to the secondary metabolites produced by host plants. This could help in the accumulation of many valuable drug compounds such as paclitaxel and camptothecin. In addition, endophytes are wide spread in plant roots; they can deeply affect soil chemical composition, micro-ecosystems, and physical structure of the host over their life cycle. Besides that, endophytes play an important role in the degradation of plant litter and organic pollutants that leads to the improvement of soil fertility. Endophytes are still a most promising microbial resource, waiting to be exploited.
