// Definition
Beneficial fungi living within plant tissues (endophytes) that are stored in seeds and influence the plant's secondary metabolite production, including trichome and terpene expression. When seeds from one soil environment are planted in another, they carry their endophytic microbiome with them.
// From the Episode
Russell Pace (CHA) described how endophytes stored in seeds interact with local soil microbes when sprouted, potentially changing epigenetic expression over time. Dragonfly Earth Medicine emphasized this is why their seeds carry soil microbes into new environments. The taxol/yew tree example was cited — the cancer-fighting compound was found to originate from endophytic fungi within the bark, not the tree itself. Considered the 'undiscovered area' of cannabis science.