2024-03-28T11:42:05Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/181632022-04-20T14:35:21Zcom_10261_53com_10261_6col_10261_432
Ergovaline in populations of endophyte infected Festuca rubra subsp. pruimosa.
Vázquez de Aldana, Beatriz R.
Zabalgogeazcoa, Iñigo
García Ciudad, Antonia
García Criado, Balbino
Fungal endophytes
ergovaline
Alkaloids
Grasses
Festuca rubra subsp. pruinosa is a grass whose preferred habitat are coastal cliffs, a harsh environment
where plants grow in cavities and are exposed to salt water spray. This grass species is systemically
infected by the fungal endophyte Epichloë festucae and the interaction is asymptomatic. Endophyte
infected grasses produce several alkaloids toxic to herbivores. In a previous work, we showed that an
average of 69% of Festuca rubra subsp. pruinosa plants from cliff ecosystems (in the North Atlantic
coast of Galicia region –Spain-) were infected by the endophyte Epichloë festucae. The main objective
in this study was to determine whether endophyte infected plants of F. rubra pruinosa produce the
ergovaline alkaloid, which is toxic to large herbivores. For this purpose infected plants of F. rubra
pruinosa, from four populations and at two different harvests were analysed for the presence of
ergovaline. An average of 80% of the analysed plants, which were endophyte infected, contained
ergovaline. The alkaloid was detected in the four populations. The concentration ranged from 0.05 –
0.58 μg g-1 in the first harvest and between 0.06 and 1.90 μg g-1 in the second. The mean ergovaline
content increased from the first (0.14 μg g-1) to the second harvest (0.35 μg g-1).
This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (‘PN Investigación Científica
Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica’) + FEDER (AGL2002-02766 AGR-FOR).
Peer reviewed
2006
artículo
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Sustainable Grassland Productivity. Grassland Science in Europe, Vol11. J. Lloveras, A. Gonzalez Rodriguez, O. Vázquez‐Yañez, J. Piñeiro, O.Santamaría, L. Olea, M.J. Poblaciones (eds.); European Grassland Federation; pp. 475‐477.
84-689-6711-4
10261/18163
en
http://www.europeangrassland.org/printed-matter/proceedings.html
open
European Grassland Federation