There is a paradox related to the understanding of the mechanisms of horizontal transmission of endophytes:
for horizontal transmission to occur, endophytic inoculum has to be produced and dispersed. But in an
asymptomatic host, where and when is the inoculum produced? In the case of latent saprophytes, the inoculum
which infects new hosts could be produced when infected host tissue dies. Some saprophytes which produce
fructifications in dead plant parts have been identified as endophytes in healthy tissues