was first misidentified as the endophyte Gliocladium roseum, but later research showed that it was in fact the saprophyte Ascocoryne sarcoides. A strain of endophytic fungi which appeared to be closely related to Nigrograna mackinnonii which was isolated from a stem of the plant Guazuma ulmifolia collected in Ecuador was found to produce a variety of volatile organic compounds including terpenes and odd chain polyenes. The polyenes isolated from the fungus have properties that are sought in gasoline-surrogate biofuels. Phytoremediation Plants are potentially able to break down or sequester, or stimulate micro-organisms in the soil to break down or sequester, certain organic pollutants and inorganic pollutants such as nickel in degraded ecosystems, which is known as phytoremediation. In this endophytes may possibly assist plants in converting pollutants into less biologically harmful forms; in one of the few experiments performed a plasmid called TOM from a strain of a bacterium in the Burkholderia genus known as G4 which can break down trichloroethylene (TCE) was transferred to endophytes of popular trees; although it did not help the plants remove more of this chemical than non-inoculated plants, the plants transpired less TCE into the air. In another experiment Burkholderia bacteria with both the TOM plasmid as well as nickel resistance genes was inoculated into yellow lupine; this increased the root mass of the plants, but the amounts of TCE transpired was not statistically significant. Despite these failures, such techniques might lead to some future improvements. Two strains of the endophytic fungi Pestalotiopsis microspora isolated from stems of plants from the Ecuadorian rainforest were shown in laboratory experiments to be able to digest polyurethane plastic as the fungus's sole carbon source in anaerobic conditions, although many other non-endophytic fungi have demonstrated this ability, and most isolates of endophytic fungi in this experiment could perform this to some degree. Drug discovery Endophytes produce a wide variety of secondary metabolites that might be useful as lead compounds in drug discovery. Endophyte bioprospecting has already yielded compounds with antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, cytotoxic, neuroprotective, antioxidant, insulin-mimetic, α-glucosidase inhibitory, and immunosuppressant properties. Manipulations of a plant's endosymbiots can affect plant development, growth and ultimately the quality and quantity of compounds harvested from the plant. Studies have shown endophytic fungi are able to produce secondary metabolites previously thought to be manufactured by their plant hosts. The presence of these metabolites in plants could be attributable to endophyte production alone,