Analysing seed endophytes for biotechnology.

Abstract Seed endophytes play a crucial role during the entire life cycle of plants due to their ability to promote germination and plant growth and provide defence against biotic and abiotic stress. The increasing interest related to these microorganisms for applications in sustainable agriculture requires the use of a wide spectrum of techniques to investigate their ecological role and to exploit their biotechnological potential. While the isolation of microorganisms is the most straightforward method to characterize and select microorganisms, molecular techniques represent an advantageous option for the discovery and tracking of uncultivable microbial species. This chapter shows that the concomitant employment of cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent techniques represents the most sophisticated approach for the study of endophytic communities. In addition to a general assessment of developments in this field, the most frequently used tools are described in detail. Moreover, their possible integration as shown in various studies targeting seed endophytes is highlighted. We expect that novel products for biotechnology will become more feasible in the future due to the recent technological and methodological developments.