Epichloë endophytes of a wild grass promote mycorrhizal colonization of neighbor grasses

VIGNALE M.V.,; IANNONE L.J.; NOVAS M.V.,

FUNGAL ECOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2020 vol. 45

1754-5048

A field experiment was performed to study the effect of Epichloë endophytes of the wild forage grass Bromusauleticus on mycorrhizal colonization, seedling emergence and growth parameters in three heterospecific grassesof agronomic interest. Plots with B. auleticus associated with Epichloë (E+) and non-associated (E-) plants wereestablished and 3 y later, seeds of Lolium multiflorum (E+ or E-), Schedonorus arundinaceus (E+ or E-) and Bromuscatharticus (not establishing associations with Epichloë) were sown as B. auleticus neighbors. B. auleticus E+ plantsinduced a significant increase in mycorrhizal colonization of the neighbor grasses, even higher in the E-neighborplants (L. multiflorum and S. arundinaceus), in comparison to B. auleticus E-neighbors. Seedling emergence, rootlength, leaves number or shoot dry weight were not affected. This is the first approach to studying these triple interactions(endophyte-grass-mycorrhiza) involving wild and forage grasses in the field. Our results show that theeffect of Epichloë extends further than its own host and suggest an interaction among endophytes of heterospecificneighbors at the rhizosphere level.