Endophytes live inside all plant species. They have been found in plants living on the sea, like green algae and plants that live on land, such as the dandelions growing near the sidewalk. Endophytes can live in plants from places with high temperatures and little water, like cacti, or inside tropical palm trees and mangroves from the coastal shores, or in ferns and mosses that live in the cold Antarctic zone. If endophytes live in every plant, how do we choose which plant to study for its endophytes?
While it is true that every plant contains at least one relevant endophyte, the relevance of an endophyte relies on the function that it carries out on the plant and the benefits that the endophyte provides (e.g., help its plant host to resist drought). Some endophytes develop a very close association with their plant host and contribute to different processes crucial for the survival of the plant. In order to study the biological activity that endophytes carry on inside their plant, first we must select a plant specimen.

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