Interplay between Endophyte Prevalence, Effects and Transmission: Insights from a Natural Grass Population.

ABSTRACT: Two main mechanisms are thought to affect the prevalence of endophyte-grass symbiosis in host populations: the mode of endophyte transmission, and the fitness differential between symbiotic and non-symbiotic plants. These mechanisms have mostly been studied in synthetic grass populations. If we are to improve our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of such symbioses, we now need to determine the combinations of mechanisms actually operating in the wild, in populations shaped by evolutionary history. We used a demographic population modeling approach to identify the mechanisms operating in a natural stand of an intermediate population (i.e. 50% of plants symbiotic) of the native grass Festuca eskia. We recorded demographic data in the wild over a period of three years,

SUBMITTER: Gibert A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4603686 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature