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Histology of Healthy and Diseased Orchardgrass Leaves Subjected to Digestion in Rumen Fluid 1
Author(s) -
Edwards M. T.,
Sleper D. A.,
Loegering W. Q.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1981.0011183x002100020035x
Subject(s) - dactylis glomerata , biology , forage , digestion (alchemy) , rumen , pathogen , rust (programming language) , stem rust , agronomy , botany , poaceae , horticulture , microbiology and biotechnology , food science , cultivar , chemistry , chromatography , fermentation , computer science , programming language
Few studies have been conducted on the effects of stem rust caused by Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. dactylidis Guyot et Massinot on forage quality in orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata L.). Orchardgrass grown in the field was infected with the pathogen or kept free of the pathogen by spraying twice a week with a fungicide to study the effect of the pathogen on digestibility. Cross sections (12μ) of healthy and diseased leaves were examined under a microscope after 2 to 48 hours of digestion in rumen fluid. After 48 hours, 6 to 7 mm sections from healthy leaves were completely digested except for lignified structures, whereas sections from diseased leaves showed no apparent digestion of tissues under uredia and only partial digestion of adjacent tissues. Stem rust of orchardgrass not only reduces forage yield but also reduces forage quality.