Surveys of fine-scale distributions of naturalized populations of ryegrasses, and analysis of ecological impacts of endophyte infection

非本土牧草担心它们对河岸和农田的影响，因为它们经常归化入侵那里。我们选择了黑麦草作为模式植物，并发展了研究归化种群细尺度分布的方法。利用这种方法，我们记录了多花黑麦草的分布与内生菌感染的河岸。内生菌感染的个体不太可能被食籽昆虫消耗，这表明内生菌可能赋予对这些昆虫的抗性，从而增强草的入侵性。我们还在稻田周围发现了抗草甘膦的意大利黑麦草。这是日本首次报道抗草甘膦杂草。

Non-native pasture plants are concerned about their impacts in both the riversides and farmlands, because they have often naturalized to invade there. We selected ryegrasses as model plants, and developed the method of examining fine-scale distributions of naturalized populations. By using this method, we recorded the distributions of Italian ryegrass in relation to endophyte infection in the riversides. Endophyte-infected individuals were unlikely to be consumed by seed-eating insects, suggesting that endophyte may confer the resistance to those, thereby enhancing the invasiveness of the grass. We also found glyphosate-resistant Italian ryegrass around the rice paddy fields. This is the first report of a glyphosate-resistant weed in Japan.