Fertilization of Epichloë typhina stromata by mycophagous slugs

George D. Hoffman; Sujaya Rao

doi:10.3852/13-069

Effect of gibberellic acid on inflorescence production in cocksfoot plants infected with choke (Epichloë typhina)

Transactions of the British Mycological Society ◽

10.1016/s0007-1536(70)80097-3 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 55 (1) ◽

pp. 77-IN6 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

T.I. Emecz ◽

D. Gareth Jones

Keyword(s):

Gibberellic Acid ◽

Epichloë Typhina

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SURVEYS FOR CHOKE (EPICHLOE TYPHINA) IN COCKSFOOT SEED CROPS, 1951?53

Plant Pathology ◽

10.1111/j.1365-3059.1954.tb00674.x ◽

1954 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 6-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

E. C. Large

Keyword(s):

Epichloë Typhina ◽

Seed Crops

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Man-made habitats - hotspots of evolutionary game between grass, fungus and fly

Biodiversity Research and Conservation ◽

10.2478/v10119-009-0017-z ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 47-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marlena Lembicz ◽

Paweł Olejniczak ◽

Ziemowit Olszanowski ◽

Karolina Górzyńska ◽

Adrian Leuchtmann

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Life Histories ◽

Early Stage ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Evolutionary Game ◽

Long Distance ◽

Puccinellia Distans ◽

New Man ◽

Epichloë Typhina ◽

Vegetative Season

Man-made habitats - hotspots of evolutionary game between grass, fungus and flyThe origin and effects of an evolutionary game between species from three different kingdoms (plants, fungi and animals) are presented. We provide scientific evidence that the interaction discovered in man-made habitats leads to an early stage of coevolution. The grassPuccinellia distanswas observed to rapidly spread in new man-made habitats, while at the same time, it was colonised by the fungusEpichloë typhina.The invasion of infected grasses is accompanied by alterations in life histories of both species:P. distansdeveloped features promoting long-distance spreading, whereasE. typhinachanged its life cycle by forming sexual structures for the second time, later in the vegetative season. This enables the fungus to make use of the late shoots of the grass for sexual reproduction, even though it cannot be completed because the vector of spermatia necessary for fertilisation, femaleBotanophilaflies, is not present at that time. This indicates that such uncoordinated evolutionary processes had taken place before interactions between organisms became so specialised that it is difficult to presume they were the result of natural selection. Moreover, these processes could have been initiated in man-made habitats that, in particular circumstances, can become coevolutionary hotspots.

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First Report of Choke Disease Caused by Epichloë typhina on Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata) in China

Plant Disease ◽

10.1094/pdis-93-6-0673b ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 93 (6) ◽

pp. 673-673 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

C. J. Li ◽

Z. F. Wang ◽

N. Chen ◽

Z. B. Nan

Keyword(s):

Dactylis Glomerata ◽

The United States ◽

Leaf Sheath ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Disease Spread ◽

Willamette Valley ◽

First Report ◽

Epichloë Typhina ◽

Pure Cultures ◽

Choke Disease

Orchardgrass or cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) has been widely cultivated as a forage crop in many provinces of China (1). It is also a native perennial forage grass, which grows at the edge of forests, shrubs, and mountainous grasslands in Xinjiang and Sichuan (2). In September of 2007, signs of choke disease on orchardgrass were observed in a native grassland under birch woodland near Altai City, Xinjiang, China. Stromata, which formed on culms of diseased grass, enclosing the inflorescence and leaf sheath, were 4.5 to 5.5 mm long, smooth or wrinkled, white and later becoming yellowish or yellow, tuberculate, dry, and covered with perithecia. Inflorescences surrounded by fungal stromata were choked and failed to mature, thus restricting seed production. Pure cultures were obtained by directly scraping stromata from the surface and incubating it on antibiotic potato dextrose agar (PDA). The colonies were cottony, white on the upper surface, and white to yellow on the reverse. The growth rate was 13 to 21 mm per week at 25°C on PDA. Conidia were hyaline, lunate to reniform, and measured 4.1 ± 0.5 × 2.2 ± 0.5 μm. They accumulated in small globose heads at the tips of conidiogenous cells and were produced singly on conidiophores of 13 to 33 μm long and 2.7 to 4.1 μm wide at the base. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence by BLAST search had 99% similarity with an Epichloë typhina isolate of orchardgrass in Spain (GenBank Accession No. AM262420.1). Cultural characteristics, microscopic examination, and phylogenetic analysis showed that this choke disease on D. glomerata was caused by the fungus E. typhina (Pers.) Tul. & C. Tul. as described by White (4). To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. typhina causing choke disease on orchardgrass in China. The pathogen has been identified in France, England, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States (3,4) with the same symptoms as those reported here. In 1997, choke disease was found in 70% of the fields in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, with disease incidences ranging from 0.05 to 28%. It was predicted to increase and spread under the prevailing climatic conditions (3). This new disease report is to provide observational and diagnostic information to help with recognition and prevention of disease spread in orchardgrass cultivation regions of China. References: (1) X. R. Chao et al. Shandong Agric. Sci. 1:7, 2005. (2) S. X. Jia, ed. China Forage Plant Flora. China Agriculture Press, Beijing, 1987. (3) W. F. Pfender and S. C. Alderman. Plant Dis. 83:754, 1999. (4) J. W. White. Mycologia 85:444, 1993.

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