**3. Endophytic Occurrence of** *Lasiodiplodia theobromae*

After having basically been studied as a plant pathogen responsible for serious damages of crops, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions [5,6], in the last three decades, the literature regarding *L. theobromae* has been substantially enriched by many reports concerning its endophytic occurrence on plant species which are quite heterogeneous in botanical terms (Table 1).


**Table 1.** Plant hosts of endophytic *Lasiodiplodia theobromae*. Species where the fungus has been also reported as a pathogen are underlined.



**Table 1.** *Cont.*



**Table 1.** *Cont.*


The total number of 203 findings summarized in Table 1 is indicative of the widespread adaptation of *L. theobromae* to an endophytic lifestyle. They refer to as many as 189 plant species from 60 families, including representatives of the Pinophyta (seven species) along with the more numerous angiosperms. Among the latter, there are just *Annona muricata* and two *Piper* species in the Magnoliids, while Monocots and Eudicots are more common—particularly the families Orchidaceae (21 species) within the former, and Fabaceae (22 species), Combretaceae (12 species), Myrtaceae and Malvaceae (9 species each) within the latter grouping. Most of these plants are trees, which likely depends on both a preference of the fungus for lignified tissues and on the higher number of investigations on endophytes which have been carried out in forests and on woody hosts.

In geographical terms, a greater diffusion of *L. theobromae* is evident in tropical and subtropical countries (Figure 1), which is related to both the known prevalence of the fungus in this climatic zone and to the more consistent investigational activity in these countries, particularly India and Brazil, with, respectively, 81 and 32 records (ca. 40 and 16% of the total). Some reports are inaccurate and do not allow us to match the endophytic finding of *L. theobromae* with a definite host [127,128].

**Figure 1.** Geographical distribution of endophytic *Lasiodiplodia theobromae* as resulting from entries of Table 1. The color scale ranging from yellow to red is representative of the number of findings for each country.
