Aim and Objective:

Endophytes are microorganisms which reside inside their host usually a plant or animal, post
colonising the host, the relationship is rendered mutually beneficial. The aim of the study
prominently involved literature research to understand host-microbe interactions in terms of
their dependency and involvement various physiological functions and properties of the host.
Therefore, our main objectives of the study were as follows:
1. To explore the diversity, richness and functions of the microbes as symbionts in both
plant and insect host using various online search tools and databases.
2. To conduct a literature survey of ecological, therapeutical and environment
conservation aspect of these host-endosymbiont interactions.
3. To understand the isolation and characterization aspect of these endosymbiotic
microbes

Methodology:
I. In order to understand the diversity, richness and function of the endophyte in different
hosts, the study was conducted in 3 parts:
A. Study of endophytic microbes in plants with medicinal properties:
a. The survey was conducted in 3 medical plants Azadirachta indica, Curcuma
longa L., Momordica charantia
B. Study of endophytic microbes in plants or animals with phytoremediation properties
a. The survey was conducted on Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas,
Paenibacillus, Brevibacterium, Geobacillus, Acinetobacter, Xanthomonas,
Enterobacter, Vibrio, Rhizobium , Arthrobacter
C. Study of endosymbiotic microbes in ants
a. The survey was conducted in 6 ant species such as Camponotus floridanus,
Camponotus compressus , Oecophylla smaragdina , Cephalotes atratus ,
Camponotus textor , Tetraponera binghami
The literature survey was accomplished through disparate websites namely besides google
scholar being the major search engine used.
Table 1: Online tools and databases used for the study
Webtool/ URL Used for
Database
Research Gate https://www.researchgate.n Finding literature and research
et/ papers
NCBI (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g Finding literature, structure,
ov/ bioassays of bioactive
compounds
Springer Nature https://www.springernature Finding literature and research
.com/gp papers
 MetaCyc https://metacyc.org/ Finding literature, research
Metabolic papers, therapeutic properties,
Pathway uses and application of the
Database endophytes.
KEGG (Kyoto https://www.genome.jp/keg Finding genes/pathway of the
Encyclopaedia g/ endophytes
of Genes and
Genomes)
PubChem https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.ni Finding genes/pathway of the
h.gov/ bioactive compounds extracted
from the endophytes
Global http://gcm.wfcc.info/strains To find organisms of specific
Catalogue of .jsp? function
Microorganisms strain_number=&strain_nam
e=bacillus
%20cereus&marklog=strainn
amelist
IMPPAT https://cb.imsc.res.in/imppa Finding research papers,
t/home therapeutic properties, uses and
application of the endophytes.
Microbial http://mbgd.genome.ad.jp/ To find genes involved in
Genome particular functions
Database
Web of http://www.webofmicrobes. To find organisms of specific
Microbes org/organism function
Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/ Finding research papers and
literature

II. Isolation and Characterization of plant endophytes

An online lecture was provided by Ms. Garima Sharma (PhD Scholar, Animal Plant
Interactions Lab) on the method of endophytes isolation, biochemical characterization and
online tools for Primer synthesis for 16S RNA sequencing method for microbial
identification.
For the isolation method involved pre-washing of fresh leaves to remove dirt and pollutants.
Subsequently, they are washed in a series of buffer with increasing alkalinity, followed by 5
washes within sterile double distilled water (Sharma et al., 2020). The leaf is then macerated
in 0.9% NaCl, followed by inoculation in Nutrient Agar Medium (NAM), Reasoner’s 2A
agar (R2A), Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) for fast, slow bacteria and fungi respectively. After,
incubation the colonies can be for richness and diversity. These isolates can be biochemically
characterized using differential media such as MacConkey agar, Eosine Methylene Blue agar,
simmon citrate agar, Triple sugar iron test and catalase.
For 16S based identification the primers designing also explained by Ms. Garima Sharma
using the online software Primer 3.