Abstract
Abstract This study compares the culturable fungal endophytic community inhabiting leaves of Epichloe-infected (E+) and Epichloe-free (E-) plants of Poa bonariensis. Plants were collected from a wild population (dioecious species) where E+ and E- plants co-exist. Fungal endophytes were isolated and then morphology and ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer sequences were used for the identification of isolates. In total 24 different taxa of non-Epichloe (NE) endophytes were identified. No significant differences were found in richness and diversity indexes of NE-endophytes between E+ and E- plants, or between pistillate (P) and staminate (S) plants. When we analyzed these effects based on the count of the most abundant genera, Alternaria and Stemphylium infection frequencies decreased in S plants, while in E+ plants, this tendency was observed for Alternaria. Our results suggest that Epichloe and the sex of the host plant may modulate some of the dominant foliar endophytic fungal taxa.
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