Forages are the base source of nutrition for any cow-calf operation. Forage types vary based on soil type and climate. Tall fescue () is the most commonly used cultivated grass for grazing beef cattle in the United States. This cool-season perennial is easily established; is resistant to drought, insects, and nematodes; and has the ability to withstand heavy grazing pressure. Most tall fescue v...

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea, Shreb.) is the predominant cool-season, perennial grass in the eastern half of the United States, and the majority is infected with the endemic endophyte (E+) Neotyphodium coenophialum, resulting in millions of dollars in revenues lost to the beef industry. Endophyte-free (E-) tall fescue was initially tapped as a "silver bullet" for the solution to fescue toxi...

Plant cytochrome P450s are involved in a wide range of biosynthetic reactions that generate various biomolecules, including a variety of defensive compounds. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) are two major species of turf and forage grasses that usually experience low temperature below -10°C and high temperature over 38°C around the world. In this study, ...

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) is the most important cultivated pasture grass in the USA, occupying over 35 million acres. It is a native of Europe but is of minor importance there. It is not known when tall fescue was first introduced into the USA but it was being tested in several states by the late 1800s (Buckner et al., 1979). However, tall fescue usage remained low until release of the ...

Tall fescue (Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub) is a cool season perennial grass that fills a critical forage produc-tion gap in the Southeast and is the predominant forage crop in much of the U.S. In fact, this species is the most widely used grass in improved U.S. pastures, occupying more than 36 million acres. Its popularity is related to establishment ease, drought tolerance, excellent graz...

It is important to develop best management practices for novel tall fescue systems in the southern Great Plains of North America, especially since cool-season perennials are not well known or commonly utilized in this region. This review paper summarizes the research activities in this region of the southern Great Plains for developing new perennial tall fescue systems (establishment, legume-gr...

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...

The development of fungal endophytes of the genus Epichloë in grasses results in the production of different groups of alkaloids, whose mechanism and biological spectrum of toxicity can differ considerably. Ergot alkaloids, when present in endophyte-infected tall fescue, are responsible for "fescue toxicosis" in livestock, whereas indole-diterpene alkaloids, when present in endophyte-infected r...

Bioassay techniques are often used to study the effects of allelochemicals on plant processes, and it is generally observed that the processes are stimulated at low allelochemical concentrations and inhibited as the concentrations increase. A simple empirical model is presented to analyze this type of response. The stimulation-inhibition properties of allelochemical-dose responses can be descri...

• Climate change (altered CO(2) , warming, and precipitation) may affect plant-microbial interactions, such as the Lolium arundinaceum-Neotyphodium coenophialum symbiosis, to alter future ecosystem structure and function. • To assess this possibility, tall fescue tillers were collected from an existing climate manipulation experiment in a constructed old-field community in Tennessee (USA). Endo...