Tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh. syn. Festuca arundinacea Schreb.] and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) are important perennial forage grasses utilized throughout the moderate- to high-rainfall temperate zones of the world. These grasses have coevolved with symbiotic fungal endophytes (Epichloë/Neotyphodium spp.) that can impart bioactive properties and environmental st...

Alkaloids produced by the fungal endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum) that infects tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.] are a paradox to cattle production. Although certain alkaloids impart tall fescue with tolerances to environmental stresses, such as moisture, heat, and herbivory, ergot alkaloids produced by the endophyte can induce fescue toxicosis, a malady that adversely a...

Certain species of the Pooideae subfamily develop stress tolerance and herbivory resistance through symbiosis with vertically transmitted, asexual fungi. This symbiosis is specific, and genetic factors modulate the compatibility between partners. Although gene flow is clearly a fitness trait in allogamous grasses, because it injects hybrid vigor and raw material for evolution, it could reduce c...

The symbiosis between tall fescue (Festuca arundinaceum) and a shoot-specific fungal endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum) has been relatively well studied but little attention has been given to how this relationship may impact the soil microbial community. Understanding how the symbiosis may structure soil microbial communities is important for understanding the cascade of effects that this sy...

The epichloae (Epichloë and Neotyphodium species), a monophyletic group of fungi in the family Clavicipitaceae, are systemic symbionts of cool-season grasses (Poaceae subfamily Poöideae). Most epichloae are vertically transmitted in seeds (endophytes), and most produce alkaloids that attack nervous systems of potential herbivores. These protective metabolites include ergot alkaloids and indole-...

Doppler ultrasonography was used to compare blood flow characteristics in the caudal artery of heifers fed diets with endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum) noninfected (E-, 0 microg of ergovaline/g of DM), a 1:1 mixture of endophyte-infected and E- (E+E-; 0.39 microg of ergovaline/g of DM), or endophyte-infected (E+, 0.79 microg of ergovaline/g of DM) tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) seed. Eig...

Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are large, multidomain proteins that are involved in the biosynthesis of an array of secondary metabolites. We report the structure of the third adenylation domain from the siderophore-synthesizing NRPS, SidN, from the endophytic fungus Neotyphodium lolii. This is the first structure of a eukaryotic NRPS domain, and it reveals a large binding pocket requ...

Epichloë species (including the former genus Neotyphodium) are fungal symbionts of many agronomically important forage grasses, and provide their grass hosts with protection from a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses. Epichloë species include many interspecific hybrids with allodiploid-like genomes, which may provide the potential for combined traits or recombination to generate new trait...

Two tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh] forages, one an experimental host plant/endophyte association containing a novel endophyte that produces low or nil concentrations of ergot alkaloids (HM4) and the other a typical association of Kentucky 31 tall fescue and the wild-type endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum; E+), were autumn-stockpiled following late-summer clipping and fer...