UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Microsatellite primers were developed for the endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae, which is symbiotic with Festuca rubra, to study the population genetics of the species and to compare population structures between E. festucae and its host F. rubra. • METHODS AND RESULTS We developed 14 polymorphic markers using the unplaced genomic scaffold sequences of E. ...

Many grasses have mutualistic symbioses with fungi of the family Clavicipitaceae. Tall fescue can harbor the obligate endophyte, Neotyphodium coenophialum that is asexually propagated and transmitted via host seeds. Total RNA was isolated from pseudostems of known endophyte-infected (E+) and endophyte-free (E-) plants and tested in triplicate on the Affymetrix Wheat Genome Array GeneChip and Ba...

Clavicipitaceae is a fungal group that comprises species that closely interact with plants as pathogens, parasites or symbionts. A key factor in these interactions is the ability of these fungi to synthesize toxic alkaloid compounds that contribute to the protection of the plant host against herbivores. Some of these compounds such as ergot alkaloids are toxic to humans and have caused importan...

Mutual relationship between pasture grasses and Neotyphodium fungal endophytes is of great importance in grass improvement. Two endophyte containing tall fescue genotypes (75 and 83) and their endophyte free ramets were used in this study. Endophytes were isolated from tall fescue genotypes 75 and 83 and used in three methods of inoculation including Latch and Christensen approach, insertion of...

Multi-gene phylogenetic analyses were conducted to address the evolution of Clavicipitaceae (Ascomycota). Data are presented here for approximately 5900 base pairs from portions of seven loci: the nuclear ribosomal small and large subunit DNA (nrSSU and nrLSU), beta-tubulin, elongation factor 1alpha (EF-1alpha), the largest and second largest subunits of RNA polymerase II (RPB1 and RPB2), and m...

A new genus, Regiocrella, is described with two species, R. camerunensis and R. sinensis, based on specimens collected in Cameroon and China. Both species are parasitic on scale insects (Coccidae, Homoptera). Morphological and molecular evidence place the new genus in the Clavicipitaceae (Hypocreales), despite its combination of characters that are atypical of that family; Regiocrella is charac...

Analyses of ribosomal ITS and chloroplast trnL-F sequences provide phylogenetic reconstruction for the festucoids (Poeae: Loliinae), a group of temperate grasses with morphological and molecular affinities to the large genus Festuca. Parsimony and Bayesian analyses of the combined ITS/trnL-F dataset show Loliinae to be monophyletic but unresolved for a weakly supported clade of 'broad-leaved Fe...

1. To study the potential for complementarity in nitrogen acquisition from different soil depths, we injected an isotope tracer ( 15 NH 4 Cl) at 5 and 20 cm depths in plant communities containing Achillea millefolium L. and Festuca ovina L. or Phleum pratense L. and Trifolium pratense L. in monocultures and two-species mixtures. 2. In monoculture, Festuca and Phleum took up tracer at 5 and 20 c...

Plant fructosyltransferases are highly homologous in primary sequence and typically consist of two subunits but catalyze widely different reactions. Using functional expression in the yeast Pichia pastoris, we show that the substrate specificity of festuca sucrose:sucrose 1--beta-D-fructosyltransferase (1-SST) and barley sucrose:fructan 6--beta-D-fructosyltransferase (6-SFT) is entirely determi...