NOVELTY - Improving plant productivity comprises introducing into the plant or propagation material an endophytic actinomycetes or variant, mutant or homolog, where actinomycetes facilitate induction of a characteristic related to improved productivity, and/or one or more metabolites from the actinomycetes or its derivative, homolog, analog, chemical equivalent or mimetic, to induce the characteristic.    USE - The new actinomycete or metabolite is useful in the manufacture of a medicament for the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of a mammalian or non-mammalian subject, where the non-mammalian subject is a plant, and in the manufacture of a composition for agricultural application (claimed). They are also useful in facilitating the improvement of crop productivity, such as increasing germination, providing disease bio-control capabilities and up-regulating plant growth promoting activities.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Improving plant productivity comprises introducing into the plant or propagation material an endophytic actinomycetes or variant, mutant or homolog, where actinomycetes facilitate induction of at least one characteristic related to improved productivity, and/or one or more metabolites derived from the actinomycetes or its derivative, homolog, analog, chemical equivalent or mimetic, to induce, in the subject plant, the characteristic, and where the actinomycete is an actinomycete with any of 30 fully defined nucleotide sequences of 317-1444 base pairs (bp; SEQ ID NO: 1-30) or a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing to any of the nucleotide sequences under low stringency conditions at 42 degrees C or its variant, mutant or homolog of the actinomycete.    INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are also included for the following:    (1) a cereal plant-derived endophytic actinomycete, or its variant, mutant or homolog or metabolites or derivatives, homologs, analogs, chemical equivalents or mimetics for use in the new method;    (2) an agricultural composition comprising the endophytic actinomycete or its metabolite together with one or more agriculturally acceptable carriers and/or diluents;    (3) a new, isolated endophytic actinomycete, or its variant, mutant or homolog;    (4) metabolites derived from the new actinomycetes and derivatives, homologs, analogs, chemical equivalents, mutants and mimetics of the metabolites;    (5) an antibody directed to the actinomycete of (3) or the metabolite of (4) or derivative, homolog, analog, chemical equivalent or mimetic of the antibody;    (6) facilitating the biodegradation of biodegradable material, comprising contacting the waste material with the actinomycetes or its variant, mutant or homolog and/or metabolite derived from the actinomycetes or their derivative, homolog, analog, chemical equivalent and mimetic to induce or otherwise facilitate the degradation of the material; and    (7) therapeutically and/or prophylactically treating a condition in a subject, the aberrant, unwanted or otherwise inappropriate symptoms, causes or outcomes of which condition are treatable with one or more metabolites derived from the actinomycetes, comprising to the subject one or more of the metabolites or derivatives, homologs, analogs, chemical equivalents or mimetics to ameliorate the symptom, cause or outcome.