“Wild Grass” and “Morning Blossoms Gathered at Dusk”

Sugarcane borers frequently inhabit wild and semi-cultivated grasses growing in the proximity of cane fields. In India, in view of the year-round cultivation of sugarcane, wild grasses are not necessary for the perpetuation of borer species, but observations indicate that certain borer species migrate from wild or other cultivated grasses to cane, thereby increasing levels of infestation in cane during certain seasons. Parasitism of borer species when present in cane is compared with that in wild or other cultivated grasses.Telenomus spp. amongst egg parasites andApanteles flavipes amongst larval parasites are striking examples of parasites which show preference for the same borer species when they occur on wild hosts than on cane, as indicated by the degrees of parasitism.

Asexual, vertically transmitted fungal endophytes of the genus Neotyphodium are considered to enhance growth, stress resistance and competitiveness of agronomic grasses, but have been suggested to have neutral or deleterious effects on wild grasses. We studied whether the associations between Bromus auleticus and their endophytes, Neotyphodium pampeanum and Neotyphodium tembladerae, are beneficial for this wild forage grass native to South America. In a greenhouse experiment, 3‐month‐old endophyte‐infected plants (E+) showed enhanced growth relative to their endophyte‐free counterparts (E−). In a one‐year‐long experiment in the field, E+ plants showed higher survival and regrowth rate, and produced more biomass and seeds than E− plants. Only with respect to the seed output did N. tembladerae seem to be detrimental, whereas N. pampeanum did not affect this parameter. No differences were observed with respect to the germination of seeds produced by E+ or E− plants. Loline alkaloids were detected in N. pampeanum‐infected plants. Our results show that, similar to results with agronomic grasses, in wild grasses, the symbiosis with Neotyphodium species could be mutualistic.

Settlement mounds in the Chad basin of north-east Nigeria provide excellent archaeobotanical evidence for the use of wild and domesticated grasses over the last 4000 years. Plant impressions in potsherds were investigated from Gajiganna. Casts of these well-preserved impressions revealed Paniceae and wild rice together with the earliest domesticated Pennisetum americanum in the area, dating to 1200–1000 cal BC. The occupation of Gajiganna ended when the occupation at Kursakata and Mege began, around 1000–800 cal BC. The macroremains of these two mounds indicate two different patterns of plant use. In Kursakata, one of the oldest domesticated Pennisetum americanum in West Africa was found charred together with wild grasses, mostly of the tribe Paniceae. In contrast to this mixed agriculture and hunter-gatherer economy, subsistence at Mege was probably based on wild grasses.

Tapesia yallundae is a causal agent of eyespot, a damaging stem base disease of cereal crops. The pathogen has also been detected on many wild and cultivated grasses even if characteristic eyespot symptoms are not visible (Lucas et al ., 2000). The pathogen exhibits a heterothallic mating system and apothecia of the sexual stage have been detected on straw stubble in many European countries, Australasia, southern Africa and North America (Dyer et al ., 2001). During field studies in New Zealand in 1995, apothecia resembling those of T. yallundae were discovered on decaying stem bases of Holcus lanatus (Yorkshire Fog) at the margin of one wheat field near Carterton, Wairarapa, North Island. To verify that apothecia were indeed T. yallundae , ascospore discharge was induced and single ascospore cultures established. Resultant colonies were confirmed as T. yallundae on the basis of conidia and colony morphology, and growth rate (2·3 ± 0·1 mm day − 1 ) on potato dextrose agar (Dyer et al ., 1996). Isolates from H. lanatus also produced a 1·05-kb PCR product characteristic of T. yallundae following amplification with the speciesspecific primers Ty 16F and Ty 16R (Nicholson et al ., 1997). No product was obtained with primers specific to the closely related species T. acuformis . Furthermore, amplification with RAPD primer OPA-10 resulted in the production of 0·68and 1·32-kb bands, again characteristic of T. yallundae (Dyer et al ., 1996). Finally, inoculation of wheat seedlings (cv. Avalon) with conidial suspensions resulted in production of characteristic eyespot lesions. This represents the first report of apothecia of T. yallundae occurring on H. lanatus and the first evidence of infection of H. lanatus by T. yallundae . The sexual stage of T. yallundae has also been detected on the wild grasses Bromus diandrus and Hordeum leporinum (barley grass) (Wallwork, 1987). Should the sexual cycle occur regularly on wild grasses then these species may provide an important reservoir of eyespot disease able to infect nearby cereal crops as a result of the dispersal of airborne ascospores. This problem may be exacerbated by the recent establishment of grassy islands (‘beetle banks’) as wildlife refuges in UK crops.

Napier grass (Pennisetum purpuruem) production for zero grazing systems has been reduced to rates of up to 90% in many smallholder fields by the Napier stunt (Ns) disease caused by phytoplasma sub-group 16SrXI in western Kenya. It is hypothesized that several other wild grasses in Kenya could be infected by phytoplasmas that would otherwise pose a significant threat to Napier, other important feeds and food crops. This study therefore sought to detect and identify phytoplasma strains infecting wild grasses in western Kenya using 16S ribosomal RNA (ribonucleic acid) gene as well as identify wild grass species hosting phytoplasmas in 646 wild grass samples that were collected in October 2011 and January 2012 during a random crossectional survey conducted in Bungoma and Busia counties of western Kenya. DNA was extracted and nested polymerase reaction (nPCR) used to detect phytoplasmas. Two sub-groups of phytoplasmas were detected in eight grass species observed to grow near infected Napier fields. Only one of the two phytoplasmas reported was related to the Ns phytoplasma. There was a strong association between proportions of phytoplasma infection and the grass species collected (p = 0.001). C. dactylon, D. scalarum, B. brizantha, poverty grass and P. maximum had high proportions of infection and were abundantly distributed in western Kenya hence considered wild phytoplasma hosts. E. indica and C. ciliaris were scarcely distributed and had low infection rates. There was statistically significant difference in proportions of infection per location of survey (p = 0.001). Phytoplasma subgroups 16SrXI and 16SrXIV were the only phytoplasma genotypes distributed among wild grasses in western Kenya. Phytoplasma subgroup 16SrXIV predominantly infects only C. dactylon and B. brizantha grasses while phytoplasma subgroup 16SrXI is broad spectrum and infects a large number of wild grasses. In general, there is a diversity of wild grasses hosting phytoplasmas in western Kenya. These host grasses may be the reason for the high rates observed in the spread of Ns disease in western Kenya by acting as reservoirs for Ns phytoplasma.

Throughout northern Africa, evidence for an intensification of wild grass gathering is reflected in Holocene archaeological contexts. However, both the recovery of macrobotanical assemblages and the specificity of their taxonomic classification are heavily influenced by food processing and post-depositional conditions. In contrast, inflorescence phytoliths provide high levels of taxonomic specificity and preserve well in most archaeological contexts. This study analyses the in situ morphology of inflorescence phytoliths from modern specimens of nine wild C4 grass species commonly observed in ethnographic studies and recovered in seed assemblages from archaeological contexts across northern Africa. Morphological differences in Interdigitate phytoliths within the fertile florets of six Paniceae species enabled differentiation between them. The morphological parameters established in this study provide an additional resource for archaeological and palaeoecological analyses using phytoliths, which demonstrates the effectiveness of applying this method to African wild grass species.

In order to explore biodiversity of Fusarium species associated with the inflorescences of poaceous weeds, heads and inflorescences were collected from wild grasses in Ardabil province (Iran). Fusarium species were isolated using general and selective media. Pure cultures were established using a single spore technique. The isolates were identified based on morphological and molecular data. Sequence data were generated for TEF-1α gene, following PCR amplifciation. The results revealed that several species of Fusarium are present on inflorescences of wild grasses in Ardabil province. Among the identified species, F. brachygibbosum, F. torulosum and F. cf. reticulatum var. negundis represent new records to the mycobiota of Iran. There is no description available for these taxa in Persian literature and references to the original descriptions are not easily accesible. Here we provide detailed descriptions for these taxa and discuss their morphology, phylogeny and ecology. This is the first study on biodiversity of Fusarium spp. associated with the inflorescences of wild poaceous grasses by using a combination of morphology and DNA sequence data.

Little is known about winter-season parasitism of eggs of the corn leafhopper Dalbulus maidis DeLong (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), an important pest of maize throughout the Americas. Our study, conducted in Mexico, aimed to characterize winter-season parasitism of corn leafhopper eggs on maize crops cultivated with drip irrigation and on wild grasses that grow on the edges of maize crops when maize is not present. Maize leaves baited with D. maidis eggs were used to trap the egg parasitoids in the field. In the first year (2022), parasitism of D. maidis eggs was investigated in maize fields planted contiguously on different dates (asynchronous planting). In the second year (2023), parasitism of D. maidis eggs was evaluated in edge grasses and in adjacent maize crops planted on the same date (synchronous). The highest percentage of parasitism (53%), percentage of emergence, and total abundance of egg parasitoids were found in asynchronous maize fields. Here, Anagrus virlai Triapitsyn (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), Paracentrobia subflava (Girault) (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), and Pseudoligosita sp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) wasps were found parasitizing the D. maidis eggs, with P. subflava being the most abundant. In wild edge grasses, only P. subflava was found, showing low levels of parasitism, while in synchronous maize, P. subflava increased its percentage of parasitism (up to 37%), percentage of emergence, and abundance, during winter. These results suggest that P. subflava acts as an efficient biological control agent of D. maidis in irrigation-grown maize crops during the winter season, and that edge grasses are overwinter habitats for P. subflava.

Use of lignocellulosic biomass, such as wild grasses, represents a more sustainable alternative to food stocks for the creation of fuel bioethanol. There are numerous types of wild grasses grown naturally in Thailand that can be used as a feedstock for bioethanol production and several of them have been examined already for their physical characteristics and ethanol production potential. Physical characteristics such as a high dry matter yield and high percentage of cellulose make Tifton Bermuda grass a particularly attractive candidate for bioethanol production. The different studies examined in this paper used differing pretreatment methods on various types of wild grasses with varying levels of success depending on the method and grass used. The largest amount of ethanol produced per initial gram of grass was 0.14 g per gram from two separate types of vetiver grasses, likely due to a utilization of both a glucose and xylose-fermenting organism during fermentation. For any particular wild Thai grass to be used in the future as a feedstock for bioethanol production, it is essential that more research be done to optimize the process of pretreatment and fermentation.

Comparative analyses of the responses to NaCl in Cynodon dactylon and a sensitive crop species like rice could effectively unravel the salt tolerance mechanism in the former. C. dactylon, a wild perennial chloridoid grass having a wide range of ecological distribution is generally adaptable to varying degrees of salinity stress. The role of salt exclusion mechanism present exclusively in the wild grass was one of the major factors contributing to its tolerance. Salt exclusion was found to be induced at 4days when the plants were treated with a minimum conc. of 200mM NaCl. The structural peculiarities of the salt exuding glands were elucidated by the SEM and TEM studies, which clearly revealed the presence of a bicellular salt gland actively functioning under NaCl stress to remove the excess amount of Na+ ion from the mesophyll tissues. Moreover, the intracellular effect of NaCl on the photosynthetic apparatus was found to be lower in C. dactylon in comparison to rice; at the same time, the vacuolization process increased in the former. Accumulation of osmolytes like proline and glycine betaine also increased significantly in C. dactylon with a concurrent check on the H2O2 levels, electrolyte leakage and membrane lipid peroxidation. This accounted for the proper functioning of the Na+ ion transporters in the salt glands and also in the vacuoles for the exudation and loading of excess salts, respectively, to maintain the osmotic balance of the protoplasm. In real-time PCR analyses, CdSOS1 expression was found to increase by 2.5- and 5-fold, respectively, and CdNHX expression increased by 1.5- and 2-fold, respectively, in plants subjected to 100 and 200mM NaCl treatment for 72h. Thus, the comparative analyses of the expression pattern of the plasma membrane and tonoplast Na+ ion transporters, SOS1 and NHX in both the plants revealed the significant role of these two ion transporters in conferring salinity tolerance in Cynodon.

At one point in Wild Grass , the protagonist Georges is typing at his desk late at night. As Mark Snow's wistful music plays, the camera commences a slow tour of the room, encompassing a picture, a lamp, bookshelves, and an African mask on the shadowy wall. When it reaches the heavily draped window, though, we realize that time has been compressed; suddenly it is morning outside. His wife enters and greets Georges fondly. It is such a graceful shot. It could belong to a cohesive and humane film in which art (personified by the eager typist) masters space, condenses time, and rejoices in the unity of a loving couple. But Wild Grass is not that film. Consider, just for a start, the unseen narrator's commentary on the scene (adapted from Christian Gailly's novel, L'Incident ), which describes a disordered and suggestible mind: ““He kept writing about what he believed his life to be. He ended up believing it. No, he believed it. He wrote it, so he believed it.”” Notice too the simple fact that the camera spends as much time on objects as characters. Starting with its title, Wild Grass subverts anthropocentrism. The film opens with a series of oddly impersonal images: vegetation, the back of a woman's spiky hairdo, designer shoes, a stolen handbag swinging from an invisible thief's hand. The mobile viewpoint for some of …

Potential antagnosim of cultivated and wild grass–endophyte associations towards Meloidogyne incognita

Grass endophytes (Clavicipitaceae, Ascomycota) are generally considered to be mutualists which increase the host's fitness. Infected plants are often more persistent and competitive than uninfected plants, influencing population dynamics and plant community diversity. However, most of this empirical evidence is based on studies focusing on agronomically important grass species such as tall fescue or perennial ryegrass and their implications for livestock and man‐made habitats. Recent studies indicate that endophyte‐plant associations may be more variable, ranging from parasitic to mutualistic. In the present study, we investigated the influence of endophyte infection on two wild woodland grasses, which are naturally infected with distinct fungal endophytes: Brachypodium sylvaticum with Epichloë sylvatica and Bromus benekenii with Epichloë bromicola. An intraspecific competition experiment was conducted over two growing seasons in the greenhouse and in an experimental garden. At first harvest (after 12 weeks growing), endophyte infection had a significant negative effect on above ground dry matter yield (DMY) of B. sylvaticum, but a significant positive effect on DMY of Br. benekenii under competition. The same differential effects on DMY and on total seed number were also observed at final harvest (after 62 weeks growing). Results from Br. benekenii were consistent with our hypothesis of increased competitive abilities of infected plants in nature which could explain the high infection rate observed in natural populations. In contrast, this explanation does not hold true for B. sylvaticum, and other factors such as increased herbivore and pathogen resistance together with frequent horizontal transmission may be responsible for the very high incidence of this association in nature. Our results confirm previous predictions that beneficial effects of endophyte infection in wild grasses can vary for different grass species, even in comparable habitats.

erhaps the most widely used agents of biological plant protection are endophytic fungal symbionts (endophytes) of forage and turfgrasses. These are fungi of the family Clavicipitaceae, which grow between host cells in vegetative tissues, ovules, and seeds of systemically infected grass plants. The existence of these endophytes was not fully appreciated until recent years, although the protection they provide against insect damage (Fig. 1) and drought contributes to the superior agronomic qualities of favorite pasture grasses in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Unfortunately for livestock farmers, these endophytes also provide a degree of protection from grazing mammals. In 1977, Bacon et al. (2) reported that the grass Festuca arundinacea var. genuina Schreb. (hexaploid tall fescue) had a fungal endophyte related to Epichloe typhina (Pers.:Fr.) Tul., and that this endophyte— now known as Neotyphodium coenophialum (Morgan-Jones & Gams) Glenn, Bacon, & Hanlin—was responsible for toxicosis suffered by livestock grazing the grass. Epichloe species were known for many decades (44), but reports relating that nonpathogenic endophytes could be detrimental to livestock provided new impetus for intensive studies, making the grass–endophyte associations among the best characterized symbioses in biology. Less than two decades of research have yielded a rich body of knowledge about these symbioses: their secondary product chemistry, ecology, evolution, genetics, and molecular biology; their ecological roles as protectants from insect and vertebrate herbivores, pathogenic fungi and nematodes, and drought; and their effects on host growth and competitiveness. The endophytes produce numerous alkaloids, some of which are unrelated to any known from plants or other fungi. Their genetic and evolutionary complexity is extraordinary. They were the first fungi genetically documented as interspecific hybrids (47,53). Meanwhile, molecular genetic techniques were applied to the endophytes of tall fescue and other grasses, bringing us closer to the prospect of reducing or eliminating their toxicosis to livestock while continuing to employ their bioprotective qualities.

Natural fiber-reinforced nanocomposites were prepared by incorporating wild cane grass fiber and organically modified montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay into polyester resin. The composites were formulated up to a maximum volume of fiber of approximately 40% and their mechanical properties were investigated. The mean tensile strength and tensile modulus of nanoclay-filled wild cane grass fiber composites are 6.3% and 18.3% greater than those of wild cane grass fiber composites, respectively, without addition of nanoclay at maximum percentage volume of fiber. The mean flexural strength of nanocomposites at maximum percentage volume of fiber was increased to a maximum of 221 Mpa and flexural modulus to 4.2 Gpa. The mean impact strength of nanoclay-filled wild cane grass fiber composites was increased to 376.7 J/m at maximum percentage volume of fiber. The weight loss of nanoclay-filled wild cane grass fiber/polyester composites was 30% and 22% less than that of composites without nanoclay at maximum percentage volume of fiber. The results indicated that the use of nanoclay showed significant improvement in all the mechanical properties of wild cane grass fiber-reinforced composites.