Characterisation of fungal endophytes present in Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye)

Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye - CWR) is a native perennial cool season bunch grass tolerant to a range of soils, winter hardy and able to grow across the United Sates and as far North as Southern Alaska. Canada wildrye is often used for prairie restoration, conservation and erosion stabilisation. Young CWR plant tissue is palatable and nutritious to grazing animals. CWR has been reported to harbour a sexual endophytic fungus, Epichloë elymi, but some accessions have been identified that have not produced stroma. We isolated and characterised the epichloë endophytes from three endophyte-infected CWR accessions collected from Mexico and Texas. We established that the endophytes present in these CWR accessions are of hybrid origin, with E. elymi and E. amarillans ancestral genomes, and are therefore considered to be asexual isolates. The endophytes were examined for their alkaloid potential, particularly the detrimental ergot alkaloids, with inconclusive results. Keywords: Elymus canadensis, Canada wildrye, hybrid, Epichloë elymi, Epichloë amarillans