Diversity, Distribution and Functional Role of Bacterial Endophytes in Vitis vinifera - [Chapter 10]

Associations between microorganisms and botanical species play an important role in the ability of plants to survive and thrive in diverse environments, by better facing unfavorable climatic and edaphic conditions or by determining either a greater vegetative development or possibly the resistance to diseases and pests. In this article, we focus on the relationship between grapevine (Vitis vinifera) and its endophytic plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), i.e., the endophytes that stimulate and facilitate grapevine growth. Most previous studies have considered the ability of such microbes to help plants draw nutrients from the soil or to counter the effect of phytopathogens. Here, we discuss recent studies concerning the infection process, the spatiotemporal localization of endophytic PGPB in grapevine, and particularly their contribution to plant growth and defense against pathogens in this important fruit crop.