Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
College/Unit
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department/Program/Center
Division of Plant and Soil Sciences
Abstract
Many cool-season grass species have evolved with asexual, nonsymptomatic fungal endophytes of the genus Epichloë (formerly Neotyphodium) of the family Clavicipitaceae. These associations range from parasitic to mutualistic and have dramatic effects on grass host chemistry, increasing resistance to abiotic (drought, soil mineral imbalance) and biotic (vertebrate and invertebrate herbivory, nematodes, plant pathogens, plant competition) stresses. Native endophyte strains produce a range of bioprotective alkaloid and other nonalkaloid secondary compounds, several of them known to have detrimental effects on grazing animals. In the past two decades, epichloid endophyte strains have been selected with marginal or no capacity of producing ergot and/or lolitrem alkaloids. These novel endophyte strains have been introduced to several grass cultivars with the idea to increase grass host resistance to abiotic stresses without hindering grazing livestock, and abiotic stresses to ensure high competitive ability of symbiotic grass cultivars. In this presentation, we discuss mechanisms underlying the competitiveness of epichloid endophyte/grass associations and consequences of endophyte infection for grassland ecosystem functions.
Digital Commons Citation
Malinowski, Dariusz P. and Belesky, David P., "Epichloë (formerly Neotyphodium) fungal endophytes increase adaptation of cool-season perennial grasses to environmental stresses" (2019). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 2412.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2412
Comments
© The Author(s) 2019. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits redistribution, commercial and noncommercial, provided that the article is properly cited.