the lpsa gene, a late acting gene in the biosynthetic pathway of ergovaline, a suspected causative agent for fescue toxicosis in cattle, has been cloned from neotyphodium lolii, an endophytic fungus of lolium perenne. in this study, a similar gene was detected in several strains of endophytic neotyphodium spp. isolated from grass hosts endogenous to iran using direct and nested-pcr assays. exce...

• Associations with microbial symbionts may lead to niche differentiation of their host. Vertically transmitted Neotyphodium endophytes of grasses often hybridize in nature. Infection by these hybrid symbionts may result in different host-plant phenotypes from those caused as a result of infection by nonhybrid symbionts. Observations of wild Arizona fescue (Festuca arizonica) populations show t...

Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) is a valuable and broadly adapted forage grass that occupies approximately 14 million hectares across the United States. A native to Europe, tall fescue was likely introduced into the US around the late 1800's. Much of the success of tall fescue can be attributed to Epichloë coenophiala (formerly Neotyphodium coenophialum) a seed borne symbiont that aids in hos...

Cattle grazing tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) often develop fescue toxicosis. This condition is thought to be caused by ergot alkaloids produced by the endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum. Endophytes from wild tall fescue plants, which do not produce ergot alkaloids, were transferred into the endophyte-free tall fescue germplasm, HiMag. The novel associations also lacked the ability ...

Members of genus Neotyphodium are asexual derivatives of sexual Epichloë species and maintain endophytic relationships with many cool-season grasses. Most Neotyphodium species analyzed so far are interspecific hybrids with combined or partial genomes of two or three ancestral species. In this study we characterized Neotyphodium isolates from Cinna arundinacea, a perennial cool-season grass from...

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) infected with the endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum ([Morgan-Jones and Gams] Glenn, Bacon, and Hanlin) causes fescue toxicosis in cattle grazing the forage, but effects of the endophyte were considered to be abated soon after removal of the animals from pastures. Tasco-Forage, a proprietary extract from the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum, is a know...

A cryptic fungal endophyte, Neotyphodium coenophialum, infects most tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) pastures in the United States. Cattle, sheep, and horses that consume the endophyte-infected grass can suffer fescue toxicosis caused by toxic alkaloids in the infected plants. The effects of the endophyte on mammalian herbivores have been well documented, but less is known regarding the qualit...

Tall fescue [Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub] accounts for nearly 16 million hectares of pasture in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S. due to its heat, drought, and pest resistance, conferred to the plant by its symbiotic relationship with the endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum. The endophyte produces ergot alkaloids that have negative effects on the growth and reproduction of animals, r...

Ergovaline is an ergot alkaloid produced by the endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum (Morgan-Jones and Gams) found in tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinacea (Schreb.) Dumort.] and blamed for a multitude of livestock disorders. Ergovaline is known to be unstable and affected by many variables. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of sample handling and storage on the stability of...

Invasive species may owe some of their success in competing and co-existing with native species to microbial symbioses they are capable of forming. Tall fescue is a cool-season, non-native, invasive grass capable of co-existing with native warm-season grasses in North American grasslands that frequently experience fire, drought, and cold winters, conditions to which the native species should be...