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Artificial infection of grasses with endophytes
Author(s) -
LATCH G. C. M.,
CHRISTENSEN M. J.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.1985.tb01543.x
Subject(s) - endophyte , biology , acremonium , festuca arundinacea , epichloë , plant use of endophytic fungi in defense , lolium perenne , botany , mycelium , festuca rubra , inoculation , poaceae , festuca , neotyphodium , lolium , symbiosis , horticulture , bacteria , genetics
SUMMARY The endophytic fungi Acremonium loliae and a Gliocladium‐like sp. were isolated from Lolium perenne; A. coenophialum and a Phialophora‐like sp. from Festuca arundinacea; and Epichloe typhina from F. rubra . All five fungi infected endophyte‐free seedlings of the host grasses and F. arundinacea after artificial inoculation. All fungi except A. coenophialum were able to infect L. perenne . The inoculation technique involved placing endophyte mycelium into the coleoptile tissue of sterile seedlings growing on water agar in Petri dishes. Infection of mature plants with endophytes was not achieved. The presence of some endophytes in grasses can be beneficial to plant growth and persistence but deleterious to the health of animals which graze them. The desirability of infecting cultivars of grasses with endophytes is discussed.