Ryegrass Staggers: Clinical, Pathological and Aetiological Aspects

Correlation of endophyte toxins (ergovaline and lolitrem B) with clinical disease: fescue foot and perennial ryegrass staggers.

Fescue foot, summer syndrome, reproductive problems, and ryegrass staggers are all diseases of livestock related to endophyte toxins in pasture grasses. Range finding experiments and case studies of fescue foot relative to ergovaline toxin found in endophyte infected tall fescue and lolitrem B present in endophyte infected perennial ryegrass were conducted. Within 42 d of initiating a feeding t...

Ryegrass Staggers: Management and Control

An outline is given of some of the main factors and interactions involved in the development of ryegrass staggers viz: pasture structure, neurotoxin distribution within the pasture, and livestock feeding behaviour. Because neurotoxicity is mainly associated with ryegrass leaf sheath the aim of control measures is to minimise ingestion of this component when it is toxic. This can best be achieve...

The janthitrems: fluorescent tremorgenic toxins produced by Penicillium janthinellum isolates from ryegrass pastures.

New tremorgenic mycotoxins named janthitrem A, B, and C (molecular weights 601, 585, and 569, respectively) were produced by more than half of 21 Penicillium janthinellum isolates obtained from ryegrass pastures involved in ryegrass staggers outbreaks in sheep.

Lolitrem B and Indole Diterpene Alkaloids Produced by Endophytic Fungi of the Genus Epichloë and Their Toxic Effects in Livestock

Different group of alkaloids are produced during the symbiotic development of fungal endophytes of the genus Epichloë in grass. The structure and toxicity of the compounds vary considerably in mammalian herbivores and in crop pests. Alkaloids of the indole-diterpene group, of which lolitrem B is the most toxic, were first characterized in endophyte-infected perennial ryegrass, and are responsib...

Bovine hepatic differential gene expression in response to perennial ryegrass staggers