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The first reports regarding the existence of bacteria residing in the internal tissue of non-symbiotic plants date back to the 1870s and were reviewed by Smith in 1911 and Hollis in 1951. Since then numerous articles have described endophytic communities in a broad spectrum of plant species and in various plant organs. However, recently increased interest in endophytic bacteria has taken place especially for those bacteria having commercial features such as plant growth promotion and stimulation of plant defence mechanisms. With all the work published within the last decade the question arises: what do we really know about plant interactions with endophytic bacteria and how do these interactions influence plant health? The best characterized plant–endophytic bacteria interactions are those of nitrogenfixing bacteria, like the Rhizobium–legume symbiosis or the symbiosis between free-living N-fixing bacteria …