English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Strong creeping red fescue ( Festuca rubra  subsp.  rubra ) is a commercially important low-maintenance turfgrass and is often naturally infected with the fungal endophyte  Epichloë   festucae .  Epichloë  spp. are endophytes of several cool-season grass species, often conferring insect resistance to the grass hosts due to the production of toxic alkaloids. In addition to insect resistance, a unique feature of the strong creeping red fescue/ E. festucae  symbiosis is the endophyte-mediated disease resistance to the fungal pathogen  Clarireedia jacksonii,  the causal agent of dollar spot disease. Such disease resistance is not a general feature of other grass/  Epichloë  interactions.  E. festucae  isolates infecting red fescue have an antifungal protein gene  Efe-afpA , whereas most other  Epichloë  spp. do not have a similar gene. The uniqueness of this gene suggests it may, therefore, be a component of the unique disease resistance seen in endophyte-infected red fescue. Here, we report the generation of CRISPR-Cas9  Efe-afpA  gene knockouts with the goal of determining if absence of the protein in endophyte-infected  Festuca rubra  leads to disease susceptibility. However, it was not possible to infect plants with the knockout isolates, although infection was possible with the wild type  E. festucae  and with complemented isolates. This raises the interesting possibility that, in addition to having antifungal activity, the protein is required for the symbiotic interaction. The antifungal protein is a small secreted protein with high expression  in planta  relative to its expression in culture, all characteristics consistent with effector proteins. If  Efe- AfpA is an effector protein it must be specific to certain interactions, since most  Epichloë  spp. do not have such a gene in their genomes.

microorganisms

The Epichloë festucae Antifungal Protein Efe-AfpA Is also a Possible Effector Protein Required for the Interaction of the Fungus with Its Host Grass Festuca rubra subsp. rubra