endophyte

American  

[en-duh-fahyt] / ˈɛn dəˌfaɪt /

noun

Botany.

1. a plant living within another plant, usually as a parasite.

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endophyte British  

/ ˈɛndəʊˌfaɪt, ˌɛndəʊˈfɪtɪk /

noun

1. a fungus, or occasionally an alga or other organism, that lives within a plant

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Other Word Forms

• endophytic adjective
• endophytically adverb
• endophytous adjective

Etymology

Origin of endophyte

First recorded in 1825–35; endo- + -phyte

Example Sentences

The study 'A nucleoside signal generated by fungal endophyte regulates host cell death and promotes root colonization' was published in Cell Host & Microbe.

From Science Daily • Nov. 27, 2024

A LuxR homolog in a cottonwood tree endophyte that activates gene expression in response to a plant signal or specific peptides.

From Nature • Nov. 14, 2017

Slowly, the benefits of the endophyte and rhizoid interactions for both partners led to present-day mycorrhizae; up to about 90 percent of today’s vascular plants have associations with fungi in their rhizosphere.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

Sounds good, but after producers struggled to keep their stands of the low-endophyte varieties, agronomists discovered that the endophyte is what gives fescue its tolerance to drought and grazing pressure.

From Time Magazine Archive

If it's horses you are grazing, you'll definitely want to stick with one of the novel endophyte varieties.

From Time Magazine Archive