Functional marker development is challenged by the ubiquity of endophytes-a practical perspective

Abstract

Functional markers (FMs) are supposed to assist in diagnosis, disease treatment and turning plant and animal breeding more efficient. However, efficient FM application is challenged through current insights in the multi-organism nature of life. This letter aims to raise awareness for re-thinking concepts for FM development in plant breeding and proposes a novel perspective.

Keywords: deep phenotyping; endophytes; functional marker development; plant breeding.