Effects of CO2 enrichment, nutrient addition, and fungal endophyte-infection on the growth of two grasses

Marks, Susan; Clay, Keith

doi:10.1007/bf00318273

Cited by 68 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…According to Wennström (1996) who studied E. typhina in the natural populations of Calamagrostis purpurea in Sweden, infected plants occurred only in wet habitats where nutrient levels were high, whereas in dry and nutrient poor habitats the fungus was absent. Other authors have shown that carbon dioxide enhanced the production of fungal stromata in infected plants but simultaneously in- hibited production of inflorescence in uninfected plants (Marks and Clay 1990;Groppe et al 1999;Meijer and Leuchtmann 2000). It has been reported that the small-scale habitat fragmentation can increase the intensity of infections with Epichloë in populations of Bromus erectus (Groppe et al 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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The fungus Epichloë typhina in populations of a halophyte Puccinellia distans: salinity as a possible inhibitor of infection

Lembicz¹,

Olejniczak²

2011

Acta Soc Bot Pol

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Puccinellia distans is a non-agricultural halophytic grass that has become another host plant for Epichloë typhina, hitherto not reported from Poland. In 1992 we noticed the first symptoms of choke disease in a single population of P. distans in central Poland. Since then we have observed choke disease in 5 populations of P. distans only in man-made habitats. These habitats are strongly anthropogenically salinated but they exhibit the pattern of species composition characteristic of natural salines. In this paper we test the hypothesis that the level of salinity affects the infection of P. distans by the fungus E. typhina. Seven plots were established in the field and each plot was divided into 25 subplots. Within each plot the level of infection in a spring generation of shoots was negatively correlated with salinity (common regression within the plots, beta = -0.674, df = 117, p < 0.001). Negative correlation was also found in an autumn generation within the plots (beta = -0.682, df = 94, p < 0.001) after excluding plot P in which the frequency of infected individuals was the lowest and equal only to 0.05. The proportion of individuals infected by the endophytic stage of the fungus in the populations was assessed using diagnostic polymerase chain reaction. The greatest percentage (98.3%) of infected individuals was found in the population growing in the habitat of the lowest salinity. The high salinity reduces the chance of P. distans to become infected, but may promote the stroma formation of E. typhina twice in the season. Disease expression in autumn clearly represents a misadaptation which could be explained by the fact that the species interactions described here appeared relatively recently as a result of human activity. This hypothesis requires further experimental verification.KEY WORDS: choke disease, diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR), field experiment, fungal endophyte, frequency of infection, man-made habitats, Puccinellia distans, salinity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Such authors as Marks and Clay 1990, Wennström 1996, Groppe et al 1999, Meijer and Leuchtmann 2000, Groppe et al 2001, on the basis of experimental study indicate the importance of different environmental factors. It has been suggested that infection of host plants with E. typhina is a result of many factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fungus Epichloë typhina in populations of a halophyte Puccinellia distans: salinity as a possible inhibitor of infection

Lembicz¹,

Olejniczak²

2011

Acta Soc Bot Pol

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“…Plants infected with fungal endophytes often grow faster than uninfected plants, although resource level can interact with infection in determining growth (Latch ei a/., 1985;Clay, 1987;Cheplick ei a/., 1989;Marks & Clay, 1990;Bacon, 1993;S.Marks, unpublished). Although many hypotheses have been advanced, the physiological basis of altered host plant growth remains unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These alkaloids also reduce insect herbivory on infected plants (Clay, 1988;Funk, White & Breen, 1993). Infected tall fescue plants exhibit enhanced growth, even in the absence of herbivory (Latch, Hunt & Musgrave, 1985;Clay, 1987;Cheplick, Clay & Marks, 1989;De Battista et al, 1990a;Marks & Clay, 1990) and are better competitors (Marks et al, 1991). Whilst these and many other studies have examined the effects of fungal-endophyte infection on whole plant responses, herbivory, and competition (Clay, 1988(Clay, , 1990, only two studies have examined the photosynthetic response (measured as carbon exchange rate) of grasses to endophyteinfection (Belesky et al, 1987;Richardson, Bacon & Hoveland, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological responses of Festuca arundinacea to fungal endophyte infection

1996

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SUMMARYEnhanced growth rates of several grass species infected by fungal endophytes are known, hut the underlying changes in plant physiology are not. Carbon exchange rates (CER) and leaf conductances {g) of 13 genotypes of tall fescue {Festuca arundinacea Schreb. var. KY 31) infected by the fungal endophyte Acremonimn coenophialum Morgan-Jones and Gams were measured at ambient conditions. Endophyte-free ramets of the same genotypes were also measured. Correlations were calculated hetween environmental conditions at the time of measurement, and physiological responses. The only differential response of infected and uninfected ramets was to temperature. At low leaf temperatures no difference was seen between infected and uninfected plants. However, at leaf temperatures above 35 °C infected tall fescue plants photosynthesized at a significantly greater rate (20-25 %) than uninfected plants. This resulted from a decrease in the CER of uninfected plants, not an increase in the rate of infected plants, at high temperature. There were also significant infection x genotype interactions, indicating that the response to infection was specific to a given genotype. These results indicate that physiological responses of host plants to fungal endophyte infection depend both on the physical environment and the genotype of the plants.

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“…The beneficial effects of the mutualistic association between plants and endophytes have been thought to include improved growth of the infected plant ; however, the physiological basis of this effect is poorly understood, particularly for crop plants (Latch et al, 1985 ;Clay, 1987 ;Cheplick et al, 1989 ;Marks & Clay, 1990, 1996Bacon, 1993). Unlike previous experiments, where endophyte-free plants were obtained by treating infected plants with fungicide to eradicate the fungi, our approach was to obtain endophyte-free plants by using tissue culture for banana and by germinating sterilized seeds of maize in MS medium.…”

Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

Symptomless infection of banana and maize by endophytic fungi impairs photosynthetic efficiency

Pinto¹,

Azevedo²,

Pereira³

et al. 2000

New Phytologist

113

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Very little is known about the physiological interactions between plant hosts and symptomless endophytic fungi despite their widespread occurrence. We investigated the impact of two such fungi, Colletotrichum musae and Fusarium moniliforme, upon the photosynthetic capacity of two crop plants, banana and maize, respectively. Endophyte-free plants were obtained first and then infected with the fungi. Measurements of total chlorophyll content revealed very little difference between endophyte-free and infected plants of banana, whereas in maize they showed 50 % reductions in the endophyte-infected plants. The maximum photochemical capacity (F v \F m ) was measured in order to determine if the plants had any photoinhibitory effect caused by biotic or abiotic factors. After 45 d of growth, endophyte-free banana plants had similar values of F v \F m to plants typical of nonstressed conditions, whereas the endophyte-infected plants showed a reduction of approx. 15 %. Unlike banana, infected maize plants displayed values of F v \F m similar to those of control and endophyte-free plants, indicating that the maximum photochemical capacity was not affected by infection. The light response curves of both species showed that the photosynthethic capacity was severely reduced in endophyte-infected plants, reaching saturation at c. 400 µmol m −# s −" whereas the control and endophyte-free plants were saturated at much higher photon flux densities. In banana the effect seemed to be due to an impairment of electron transport in the thylakoid membranes. By contrast, reduction of the photosynthetic capacity in maize was due to a reduction in chlorophyll content, leading to a decrease in the electron transport components and a consequent reduction in carbohydrate synthesis. It is possible that the reduction in the maximum yield of photosynthesis in both crops was caused by toxins produced by the fungi. Nevertheless there were no major macroscopic effects on the plants to indicate disease symptoms.

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Effects of CO2 enrichment, nutrient addition, and fungal endophyte-infection on the growth of two grasses

Cited by 68 publications

References 48 publications

The fungus Epichloë typhina in populations of a halophyte Puccinellia distans: salinity as a possible inhibitor of infection

The fungus Epichloë typhina in populations of a halophyte Puccinellia distans: salinity as a possible inhibitor of infection

Physiological responses of Festuca arundinacea to fungal endophyte infection

Symptomless infection of banana and maize by endophytic fungi impairs photosynthetic efficiency

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