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Most grasses host endophytic fungi, co-evolved organisms that can interact with their hosts from antagonism to mutualism. This study examined the impact of mating systems on host–endophyte interactions by utilizing endophyte-infected (E+) and endophyte-free (E−) populations of self-pollinating Lolium persicum and open-pollinating Lolium rigidum, collected from three regions of Iran. The evaluations in a pre-breeding process and two experiments were conducted on 1400 plants screened to select 126 half-sib (L. rigidum) and full-sib (L. persicum) families based on a limited space stress, morphological traits, and seed dormancy, respectively. It was found that endophytes generally have a significant and positive effect on reproductive traits and promoting effects in plants to strive for survival. Their impacts were population-dependent, and the E+ plants were superior when a population had higher biomass production and seed yield-related traits. Endophytes help to maintain the host’s genetic structure over generations, particularly in L. persicum. In this way, E+ populations exhibited the highest heritability and genetic advance for endophyte–host survival traits such as seed weight, number of seeds, plant height, and days to tillering in both species. In L. persicum, this also included acid-detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, crude protein, fat content, phosphorus content, number of tillers, and days to emergence. We demonstrated that artificial selection of morphological traits influenced plant–fungal fitness, such that selecting against seed dormancy significantly increased seed shattering but decreased fungal fitness.
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Demographic data from long-term symbiont removal experiments with grasses and Epichloë fungal endophytes
This project was designed to understand the demographic effects of vertically transmitted fungal endophytes (Epichloë spp.) on their grass hosts. The experiment includes seven host-symbiont taxonomic pairs: Agrostis perennans - E. amarillans, Elymus villosus - E. elymi, Elymus virginicus - E. elymi or EviTG-1, Festuca subverticillata - E. starrii, Poa alsodes - E. alsodes, Poa sylvestris - E. PsyTG-1, Schedonorus arundinaceus - E. coenophiala. Experimental plots were established at the Indiana University Lilly-Dickey Woods Research and Teaching Preserve in south-central Indiana, USA in 2007. For each species, 5-10 plots were planted with naturally symbiotic (S+) hosts, and 5-10 plots were plated with hosts that were disinfected of fungal endophytes by heat treatment (S-). Over 15 years (2007-2022) we collected demographic data on the survival, growth, reproduction, and recruitment of all plants in all plots. Beginning in 2018 we also collected data on the locations of all plants in every plot.
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- PAR ID:
- 10553421
- Publisher / Repository:
- Environmental Data Initiative
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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