Shifting Costs and Benefits of Systemic Endophyte Interactions With Native Grass Hosts

内生菌是生活在植物内部但不引起疾病的真菌。相反，内生菌被认为通过增加对干旱、草食动物和种子捕食者、病原体和根食动物的抗性以及增加发芽率、营养吸收和竞争能力而有益于植物。内生菌存在于所有植物中，包括农作物和草坪草。它们用于草坪草以提高草的性能，但也可能因其毒性作用而对牲畜造成伤害。然而，很少有人知道内生菌在原生草中的作用。内生菌的好处往往是不一样的，在农艺草。我们的研究旨在确定Neotyphodium属的无性种子内生菌在两种广泛分布的SW本地草，亚利桑那州牛毛草和瞌睡草中的成本和效益。我们的目标是实验测试Neotyphodium感染的成本和效益取决于植物和内生菌基因型和环境。我们将实施两个主要的田间实验，控制植物基因型和内生菌感染，土壤水分水平和无脊椎动物和脊椎动物的植食性。我们的研究结果将提供深入了解内生菌和它们的宿主草之间的基本相互作用，并可能具有重要的应用方面，与牧草。

Project SummaryEndophytes are fungi that live internally in plants but do not cause disease. Instead, endophytes are thought to benefit the plant by increasing resistance to drought, herbivores, and seed predators, pathogens and root feeders and increasing germination rates, nutrient uptake, and competitive abilities. Endophytes are found in all plants, including agronomic crops and turf grasses. They are used in turf grasses to increase performance of grasses, but may also cause harm livestock because of their toxic effects. However, little is known about the role of endophytes in native grasses. The benefits of endophytes are often not the same as in agronomic grasses. Our research seeks to determine the costs and benefits of asexual, seed borne endophytes in the genus Neotyphodium in two widespread SW native grasses, Arizona fescue and sleepy grass. Our goals are to experimentally test the cost and benefits of Neotyphodium infection depending on plant and endophyte genotype and environment. We will implement two major field experiments that control plant genotype and endophyte infection, soil moisture levels and herbivory by invertebrates and vertebrates. Our results will provide insights into basic interactions between endophytes and their host grasses, and may have important applied aspects related to forage grasses.