Condensed tannins in birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) have been detected, but not quantified extensively. The objective of this study was quantitative analysis of tannins in birdsfoot trefoil germplasm. Diverse accessions were evaluated at two locations and on three harvest dates, and their tissues were analyzed by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS), an accurate and efficient procedure increasingly used in quantitative germplasm evaluation. Ninety‐seven diverse accessions of L. corniculatus were obtained from the USDA Northeast Regional Plant Introduction Station at Geneva, N.Y. Seedlings were transplanted to fields near Columbia and Mt. Vernon, MO. Herbage regrowth was harvested three times at 30‐d intervals, lyophilized, and analyzed for total condensed tannins. Treatments were arranged in a split‐plot design at two locations with accessions as main plots and harvest dates as sub‐plots. Treatment combinations were replicated three times. Accessions were clustered according to the single variable, tannin concentration, by the Scott‐Knott non‐overlapping means separation technique. Performance mean and standard error of NIRS equations were 51.0 and 11.0 g catechin equivalents (CE) kg−1 dry matter (DM), respectively; NIRS squared correlation coefficients exceeded 0.90. Condensed tannins different (P < 0.01) among accessions and harvest dates, and an accession × harvest date interaction occurred P < 0.01). concentrations ranged from 0 to 132 g CE kg−1 DM, but 75% of the accessions contained less than 40 g CE kg−1 DM. For accessions appearing in the highest clusters, tannins decreased 40% at Columbia and 27% at Mt. Vernon from July to September. Accessions from Ethiopia contained an average of 100 g CE kg−1 DM and usually appeared in the highest clusters.

golf putting green turf in the southern USA through greatly improved playability characteristics as well as Off-type bermudagrasses (Cynodon spp.) continue to be a major much-needed uniformity by way of planting a singleconcern on southern U.S. golf greens because of the disruption of surface source cultivar. Uniformity in these vegetatively propauniformity and playability. The current study was undertaken to measure the genetic stability of six bermudagrass cultivars (Champion, Floradwarf, gated turf cultivars is achieved through single-node se- MS-Supreme, Tifdwarf, TifEagle, and Tifgreen) in response to the two dilection from an individual plant. The genetic base of nitroaniline herbicides pendimethalin {N-(1-ethylpropyl)-3,4-dimethyl-2, each cultivar is thus necessarily quite narrow and the 6-dinitrobenzenamine} and oryzalin (3,5-dinitro-N 4 N 4 -dipropylsufnarrow genetic base of these cultivars may pose a risk fanilamide), which are commonly applied for preemergent weed confor extensive damage from virulent or introduced pests trol in turf management. Four off-types (Off-Type 1, Off-Type 2, Off-(Taliaferro, 1995) Type 3, and Off-Type 4) were derived from Champion treated with Within approximately 10 yr of the release of Tifgreen, dinitroanilines during the experimental cycles. The amplified fragment the first "off-types" of bermudagrass were documented length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis identified a total of 311 inforand one of those became the very popular cultivar Tifmative fragments with seven primer combinations, of which 162 (52.09%) were polymorphic. The number of polymorphisms detected dwarf (Burton, 1966). The perception of the term offper primer combination ranged from 18 to 27. The grouping of cultitype is generally negative and is associated with an undevars according to molecular and morphological data was made by sirable entity that likely differs in growth habit and color multidimensional analyses: cluster analysis and canonical discriminant and disrupts uniformity and playability of the turf. Offanalysis (CDA). Phenetic analysis as well as CDA revealed that all types are particularly difficult to manage on golf putting bermudagrasses and off-types were genetically diverse. Pairwise D 2 greens, where trueness of ball roll is of the utmost imestimates ranged from 0.69 to 0.99 with Off-Type 3 being the most portance. genetically dissimilar. Unweighted pair-group method arithmetic av-It is worth noting that almost all the latest generation erage analysis (UPGMA) produced two major clusters. The first conof bermudagrasses for putting greens, often referred to tained the six bermudagrass cultivars and Off-Type 1, Off-Type 2, and Off-Type 4, while Off-Type 3 formed the second cluster. Total

Common cultivars of tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort = Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.] host a fungal endophyte that produces ergot alkaloids. These alkaloids are linked to fescue toxicosis, a serious livestock disorder in the United States. This study was conducted to determine how ergot alkaloid concentrations fluctuate throughout the growing season in tall fescue regrowth. In 2005, plots were established in pastures of endophyte-infected tall fescue growing in Missouri, Georgia, and South Carolina. Each month of the growing season, plots were clipped and forage allowed to regrow; regrowth was sampled from April through October 2006 and analyzed for ergovaline and total ergot alkaloid concentrations. At all three sites, ergovaline concentration was lowest during the spring, increasing slightly through the summer months and then sharply in the early autumn. This pattern of ergovaline fluctuation did not mimic data published from experiments in which tall fescue was grazed or was allowed to grow without defoliation. Total ergot alkaloid concentration followed a bimodal curve, with highest concentration in the spring and fall and lowest concentration in the summer. We conclude that common cultivars of endophyte-infected tall fescue should be regarded as highly toxic in the autumn and less toxic in the summer, even if pastures are clipped. We also conclude that the toxicity potential of tall fescue regrowth in the spring depends on which ergot alkaloids prove most responsible for fescue toxicosis.

1887 RESEARCH T all fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh. = Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.] is a major cool-season forage grass in the United States (Moore, 2003). Although it has many favorable agronomic characteristics, tall fescue is often toxic to livestock. Its toxicity is caused by ergot alkaloids (Belesky and Bacon, 2009), which are mycotoxins produced by the endophytic fungus, Neotyphodium coenophialum [(Morgan Jones and Gams) Glenn, Bacon, and Hanlin comb. nov.;Glenn et al., 1996]. Because of its toxicity, tall fescue should be managed with priority given to controlling ergot alkaloid concentrations. This type of management, called "alkaloid management," requires knowledge of when ergot alkaloids are produced in the individual plant and their concentration in mixed pasture and preserved forages and feeds (Roberts and Andrae, 2010). Such knowledge enables producers to employ a series of practices that regulate how much toxin is ultimately offered to livestock.ABSTRACT Ergot alkaloids are mycotoxins found in foods and forage crops, including common tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh. = Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.], which hosts a fungal endophyte. The objective of this study was to determine changes in ergovaline and total ergot alkaloid concentrations in tall fescue silage produced at high moisture (650 to 680 g H 2 O kg -1 ) and low moisture (340 to 400 g H 2 O kg -1 ). The study was conducted on endophyte-infected pastures of tall fescue in northern and southern Missouri. Tall fescue was clipped after seedhead emergence but before anthesis, wilted to high or low moisture, baled, and wrapped. After >100 d of ensiling, bales were cored and samples analyzed for ergovaline and total ergot alkaloid concentrations. Ergovaline concentration decreased (P < 0.05) during ensiling at both locations and moisture levels, and the decrease ranged from 24 to 58%. In contrast, total ergot alkaloid concentrations increased during ensiling in high moisture silage in northern (P < 0.10) and southern (P < 0.05) Missouri but did not change in low moisture silage. The opposing responses of ergovaline and total ergot alkaloids offer partial explanations for differences reported in studies involving tall fescue silage. These responses also caution against recommendations to ensile tall fescue to reduce toxins because one analyte indicates detoxification is possible, while the other analyte does not.

A fungal endophyte, Epichloë coenophiala (Morgan‐Jones & W. Gams) C.W. Bacon & Schardl, naturally infects tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.]. The common, toxic endophyte produces ergot alkaloids that cause the livestock disorder known as tall fescue toxicosis. Strains of E. coenophiala that produce little or no toxic ergot alkaloids are referred to as “novel” endophyte associations and offer a solution to tall fescue toxicosis. The objective of this study was to determine differences in animal preference and ground cover among commercially available novel endophyte‐infected tall fescue cultivars. Six cultivars of novel tall fescue and controls of common, toxic endophyte‐infected and endophyte‐free tall fescue were evaluated for animal preference, forage mass, forage removal, forage quality, and ground cover during a 2‐yr grazing trial at Linneus, MO. Plots were grazed over nine grazing events by beef cattle (Bos spp.) during the 2‐yr study, and some animals were fitted with GPS collars to determine which cultivar was grazed first and most often. ‘BarOptima’, a soft‐leaf cultivar, was grazed first and most frequently. Forage mass, forage removal, and forage quality measurements of crude protein, acid detergent fiber, and neutral detergent fiber were similar among cultivars. Ground cover increased each year of the study, even though seed production was inhibited. In addition, rust (Puccinia spp.) susceptibility differed among cultivars. Under this management system, which used up to 24‐h grazing periods and at least 8‐cm stubble height, animal preference was not based on endophyte status.