Abstract
Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) infected with an endophyte (Neotyphodium spp.) generally has agronomic advantages over endophyte-free tall fescue. The objective of this study was to determine if endophyte presence (E+) or absence (E−) in three tall fescue genotypes affects concentrations of acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in field and greenhouse studies. E+ plants had higher concentrations of ADF and NDF (nonsignificant in one genotype) in the field study. Endophyte lowered N concentration in the field from 19.2 to 18.5 g . Various interactions between genotype, endophyte, and maturity were significant for NDF, N, and P in both field and greenhouse studies. This interaction occurred because the effect of the endophyte increased or decreased fiber, N, and P content of tall fescue depending upon plant genotype. This genotype by endophyte interaction should be kept in mind as novel endophytes are selected and placed into tall fescue cultivar selections, this interaction could alter fiber, N and P accumulation of the plants which depending upon plant genotype could result in a positive or negative response.
Highlights
Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh) is grown on approximately 14 million hectares in the United States
The plant × endophyte interaction was significant for acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), N, and P in the greenhouse (Table 4)
The plant × endophyte × maturity interaction was significant for ADF, NDF, N, and P as in (Table 4) indicating that the plant × endophyte effect varied across maturity groups
Summary
Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh) is grown on approximately 14 million hectares in the United States. The majority of this acreage is infected with a fungal endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum (Morgan-Jones & Gams.) Glenn, Bacon, & Hanlin comb. Positive plant attributes are associated with endophyte infection. These include resistance to grazing pressure [4,5,6,7,8], increased yields [9,10,11], resistance to insect attack [7, 12, 13], and increased photosynthetic rates [11, 14]. Plants infected with endophyte have been shown to tolerate aluminum toxicity compared to nonendophyte-infected plants [17]
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