| Popis: |
Asexual, vertically transmitted fungal endophytes of thegenus Neotyphodium are considered to enhance growth,stress resistance and competitiveness of agronomicgrasses, but have been suggested to have neutral ordeleterious effects on wild grasses. We studied whetherthe associations between Bromus auleticus and theirendophytes,NeotyphodiumpampeanumandNeotyphodiumtembladerae,arebeneficialforthiswildforagegrassnativeto South America. In a greenhouse experiment,3-month-old endophyte-infected plants (E+) showedenhanced growth relative to their endophyte-free coun-terparts(E)).Inaone-year-longexperimentinthefield,E+plantsshowedhighersurvivalandregrowthrate,andproduced more biomass and seeds than E) plants. OnlywithrespecttotheseedoutputdidN. tembladeraeseemtobedetrimental,whereasN. pampeanumdidnotaffectthisparameter. No differences were observed with respect tothe germination of seeds produced by E+ or E) plants.LolinealkaloidsweredetectedinN. pampeanum-infectedplants. Our results show that, similar to results withagronomic grasses, in wild grasses, the symbiosis withNeotyphodium species could be mutualistic.Keywords: endophytes, wild grasses, Bromus, growth,reproduction |
