4th International Symbiosis Society Congress. Fungi shield new host plants from heat and drought.

1466 C RE D IT S: (L EF T) R .R O D RI G U EZ /U SG S; (R IG H T) D .G A RB A RY /S T. FR A N C IS X AV IE R U N IV ER SI TY Could watermelons grow in the steamy environs of the geyser Old Faithful? Or wheat thrive in the hot, dry desert? These crops don’t usually survive such hostile conditions, but with help from some microscopic sidekicks, they just might one day. By transplanting symbiotic fungi from drought-tolerant or heat-tolerant plants into crops, researchers have turned wimpy species into hardy ones. The find could expand the range of valuable food crops into currently uncultivable areas. Researchers typically think poorly of endophytes, fungi that live their entire lives within plants. Many are pathogens, and plant pathologists are working out how to prevent or get rid of infections. But geneticist Regina Redman and microbiologist Russell Rodriguez of the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle, Wash-