{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T03:06:35Z","timestamp":1788923195018,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":62,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786492800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":11,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785542400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100001461","name":"American Philosophical Society","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100001461","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009403","name":"Arnold Arboretum","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009403","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Ecology and Evolution"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Soil\u2010borne fungal pathogens are known to be major causes of seed mortality in tropical forests; however, not all fungal infections of seeds are necessarily lethal. It has been hypothesized that seed\u2010associated fungi may contribute to seed defense and persistence in soil seed banks and are especially important for non\u2010dormant seeds with limited physical and chemical defenses. This study examined microbially mediated seed defense in two fig (\n                    <jats:italic>Ficus<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) species from a tropical forest in the Western Ghats, India. One species,\n                    <jats:italic>Ficus callosa<\/jats:italic>\n                    has a free\u2010standing habit (seeds germinate in the soil), and the other,\n                    <jats:italic>Ficus beddomei<\/jats:italic>\n                    is a hemi\u2010epiphyte (seeds germinate in the canopy of host trees and send roots to soil). We predicted that (i) fungi infecting seeds prior to soil exposure will have less negative effects on seed survival compared to soil\u2010borne fungi (ii) the hemi\u2010epiphytic figs are more susceptible to soil\u2010borne fungi, and (iii) prior infection by non\u2010pathogenic, endophytic fungi excludes pathogens and increases seed survival. We inoculated seeds using seed\u2010associated fungal isolates obtained from the two fig species prior to and after exposing seeds to soil, classified their effects as endophytic or pathogenic, then tested the effect of pre\u2010treatment of seeds with endophytes before exposure to putative pathogens. We found that inoculation with fungal taxa isolated from seeds prior to soil exposure did not affect seed germination for either fig species, while soil\u2010borne fungi were frequently pathogenic, especially in the hemi\u2010epiphytic fig. Incubation with endophytic fungi prior to pathogen exposure increased seed survival depending on endophyte and pathogen identities, with stronger effects in the free\u2010standing fig.\n                    <jats:italic>Synthesis<\/jats:italic>\n                    : Our findings show that prior seed infection by seed\u2010associated endophytes could be a plausible mechanism of seed defense against fungal pathogens. It highlights the potential for dynamic seed\u2010fungal interactions to increase seed survival, with implications for tree populations and diversity in tropical forests.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/ece3.74184","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T05:00:37Z","timestamp":1786597237000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Getting by With a Little Help From Fungal Friends: Seed\u2010Associated Endophytes Contribute to Seed Defense Against Fungal Pathogens in Keystone Tropical Trees"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8076-9316","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sumashini","family":"Sundararajan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois at Urbana\u2010Champaign  Champaign Illinois USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gauranshi","family":"Chamoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nature Conservation Foundation  Mysore India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6488-9895","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"James W.","family":"Dalling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois at Urbana\u2010Champaign  Champaign Illinois USA"},{"name":"Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute  Panama City Republic of Panama"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meghna","family":"Krishnadas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CSIR\u2010Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology  Hyderabad India"},{"name":"Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR)  Ghaziabad India"},{"name":"TIFR National Center for Biological Sciences  Bengaluru India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tim.2022.10.009"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00329755"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1365-2435.14717"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fbr.2007.05.003"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2533483100"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature12911"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1461-0248.2010.01520.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_9_1","volume-title":"Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and, Evolution of Dormancy and Germination","author":"Baskin C. 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