// Definition
The process by which beneficial microbes like Trichoderma and Beauveria bassiana colonize the internal vascular transport system (xylem) of a plant, rather than just living on surfaces or in the soil.
// From the Episode
Research presented at CanMed by Dr. Bungie showed these microbes acquire solutes from xylem water, procreate inside the plant, and produce metabolites internally. The implications for upregulating acquired systemic resistance and plant defense signaling pathways (salicylic acid, jasmonic acid) are being studied.