endophytes was higher in leaves as compared to twigs or buds. This gave us an idea
about the overall biodiversity of endophytes harbored in different tissues of
Cannabisplants.
Similarly, the colonization frequency of fungal endophytes harbored inCannabis
plants collected from Himachal Pradesh revealed the endophytic biodiversity in
different plant tissues like leaves, stems and petiole (Gautam et al. 2013 ). The
calculation was dependent on the number of tissues colonized by endophytes
compared to the total number of plant tissues. The highest colonization was
observed in leaves followed by stems andfinally petiole.
Until now, diversity of endophytes harbored inC. sativahas been studied in
plants bioprospected from few locations and sources. Thus, it would be highly
interesting to analyze and compare different plants from various locations, collec-
tion centers, habitats and most importantly, wild as well as agricultural populations,
if accessible, to make a global scale diversity analysis of endophytic microorgan-
isms. As endophytes are known to produce a plethora of bioactive secondary
metabolites, characterization of endophytic microorganisms under different habitats
would enhance the chances of production of known or novel natural products.
Furthermore, such studies could enhance opportunities in understanding the eco-
logical relevance of endophytic communities and their structure subject to varied
geographical locations. Moreover, endophytes are well known for the production of
secondary metabolites occasionally mimetic to their host plants, or in many cases,
endophytes are able to produce precursors of host plant compounds (Kusari et al.
2008 ,2009a,b,c, 2011 ,2014d, 2016 ). Therefore, exploiting different ecological
niches for the identification of endophytes could enhance the possibility of
screening potential microbial producers of host plant secondary metabolites such as
cannabinoids, and their possible use in pharmaceutical sectors.
20.3 Strategies for Discovering PotentialCannabis
Endophytes Aiding in Chemical Defense of Host
PlantsCannabis sativaL. is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Cannabaceae
family, known to contain cannabinoids as secondary metabolites with important
therapeutic effects (Taura et al. 1995 ; Russo and McPartland 2003 ; Hazekamp et al.
2004 , 2005 ; ElSohly and Slade 2005 ; Sirikantaramas et al. 2005 ; Pertwee et al.
2006 ; Radwan et al. 2008 ; Ahmed et al. 2008 ; Fischedick et al. 2010 ; Chandra et al.
2013 ). In spite of such therapeutic benefits, the plant encounters continuous attack
of fungal and bacterial pathogens that are responsible for causing severe infections
to the plant (McPartland 1991 , 1994 , 1995 ). Such phytopathogens are reported to
cause epidemic disasters (Barloy and Pelhate 1962 ; Bush Doctor 1985 ) infecting
different parts and growth stage of the plant such as leaves, stems, buds, seedling to
even a mature plant. One of our targets when working onCannabisplants was to
20 Cannabis Endophytes and Their Application... 423