Are endophytes essential partners for plants and what are the prospects for metal phytoremediation?

International audienceAims: Phytoremediation of soil contaminated by trace elements is a technology using plants and microorganisms to sequester, inactivate, or extract contaminants from the soil. The assemblage formed by the partnership between plants and microorganisms is referred to as the plant holobiont concept. Among holobiont microorganisms, endophytes are associated with the plant at its earliest growth stage and are localized inside plant tissues. While plant tissues shelter endophytic microbial communities, mutualistic endophytes have shown a potential for plant growth promotion that will deeply and durably benefit the plant holobiont. In this review, we describe the state-of-the-art knowledge of the endophytes’ role in plant growth promotion and the prospects for phytoremediation technologies.Results: Mutualistic symbionts have been demonstrated to improve plant growth, germination and yield. Indeed, they improve plant nutrition, increase plant resistance to bio-aggressors and stimulate plant metabolite productions. Research has shown that endophytes improve plant performance especially under extreme conditions such as drought, nitrogen deficiency, salinity and exposition to metal phytotoxicity. Endophyte inoculation has shown potential for plant growth promotion and has increased metal translocation in hyperaccumulator shoots by mitigating stresses from contaminated and naturally metal-rich soils.Conclusions: Endophytes have demonstrated their potential to enhance the plant’s physiological status under metallic stress, the growth of both roots and shoots, as well as increasing metal uptake in the shoot biomass of a wide diversity of hyperaccumulating plants. Endophyte-assisted phytoremediation is a promising technology for the remediation of polluted or naturally metal-rich soils