Creative Commons

The dissertation was written as part of the MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Business at the International Hellenic University. As the need for more food is growing combined with the continuously increasing global population, special interest is given to research on the sustainability of agricul-tural production. The last decade, novel strategies and practices, new substances and organisms, have been introduced in Agriculture. Among these are endophytes too, act-ing as simulators and promoters of plant growth, as protectors of plants from stresses or pests, even as BCAs. These characteristics make endophytes promising, more-eco-friendly and economically sustainable tools of agriculture. 35 studies of the last 5-year period were selected to review the factors influencing endophytic communities (host, tissue type and abiotic environment) and to discuss whether the type of tissue has greater effect on endophyte community, irrespective of the host species. Additionally, to investigate if there is an effect on endophytic community when environmental con-ditions change in small or large scale. The study revealed that host plant may be the main factor, affected directly by abiotic environment, while the type of tissue shapes further the existing endophytic community that has been recruited by host into specific plant compartments. Abiotic environment influences endophytes, too. Endophytic communities present a global ho-mogeneity, with no significant differences in the composition of their communities at the phylum level. However, this does not mean that there are no differences among the individuals of each group at the family, genus and species level shaped by local environ-mental factors. Thus, there is a general/global pattern of maintenance of endophytic community structure, regardless of the study area, which is influenced at the lower tax-onomic levels by local abiotic environmental parameters on the one hand, and by biotic on the other. At this point I would like to acknowledge and thank cordially my supervisor and the people who contributed to complete this thesis.