Incidence of Epichloë festucae in Festuca rubra plants of natural grasslandas and presence of double-stranded RNA
In natural grasslands of western Spain, Festuca rubra is frequently infected by Epichloë festucae and this association is considered as a mutualistic symbiosis. Viruses appear to be common in fungi and are often associated with symptomless infections. This study focused on three objectives: i) to examine the infection frequency of E. festucae in populations of F. rubra, ii) to identify the presence of two known viruses, EfV1 and EfV2, in E. festucae strains, and iii) to determine if there are differences in the chemical composition of E. festucae strains infected and non infected by viruses. A total of 161 plants of F. rubra were collected in natural grasslands at six locations. The infection frequency by E. festucae in these populations of F. rubra ranged from 24% to 87% (average 59%); 57% of the endophytic isolates were infected by viruses. EfV2 infections and coinfections by EfV1 and EfV2 were common in isolates from the different locations and only one isolate of the 93 analysed was infected only by EfV1. No significant differences were found among virus-infected and virus-free E. festucae isolates with respect to their chemical composition.
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | capítulo de libro biblioteca |
| Published: |
European Grassland Federation
2010
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| Subjects: | Viruses, Fungal endophytes, Epichloë festucae, Festuca rubra, Grasslands, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/266580 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100006280 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 |
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