Theory predicts that (i) vertical transmission of parasites (i.e. when they are passed directly from a host to its offspring) selects for benign association with the host and that (ii) vertically transmitted parasites that lower their hosts' fitness cannot persist if they are not able to infect horizontally (i.e. contagiously) other host individuals in the population. In this paper, we develop ...

Tall fescue and meadow fescue are naturally infected with fungal endophytes, Neotyphodiumcoenophialum and Neotyphodium uncinatum, respectively. Seed traits are an important measureof the effects of the endophytic fungi which has been less addressed. In this study we usedendophyte-infected (EI) and endophyte-free (EF) clones of tall and meadow fescue genotypes inthe field to investigate the effe...

Pharmacologic profiling of serotonin (5HT) receptors of bovine lateral saphenous vein has shown that cattle grazing endophyte-infected (Neotyphodium coenophialum) tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) have altered responses to ergovaline, 5HT, 5HT2A, and 5HT7 agonists. To determine if 5HT receptor activity of tall fescue alkaloids is affected by grazing endophyte-free (EF), wild-type [Kentucky-31 (...

All plants studied in natural ecosystems are symbiotic with fungi (1), which obtain nutrients while either positively, negatively, or neutrally affecting host fitness (2). Plant adaptation to selective pressures is considered to be regulated by the plant genome (3). To test whether mutualistic fungi contribute to plant adaptation, we collected 200 Dichanthelium lanuginosum plants from geotherma...

The use of Brahman in cow–calf production offers some adaptation to the harsh characteristics of endophyte-infected tall fescue. Criollo breeds, such as the Romosinuano, may have similar adaptation. The objectives were to estimate genetic effects in Romosinuano, Angus, and crossbred cows for their weights, weights of their calves, and ratios (calf weight:cow weight and cow weight change:calf we...

Climate change is accelerating the spread of plants and their associated species to new ranges. The differences in range shift capacity of the various types of species may disrupt long-term co-evolved relationships especially those belowground, however, this may be less so for seed-borne endophytic microbes. We collected seeds and soil of the range-expanding Centaurea stoebe and the congeneric ...