Examining the Impacts of CO₂ Concentration and Genetic Compatibility on Perennial Ryegrass-Epichloe festucae var lolii Interactions.

ABSTRACT: Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is the most cultivated cool-season grass worldwide with crucial roles in carbon fixation, turfgrass applications, and fodder for livestock. Lolium perenne forms a mutualism with the strictly vertically transmitted fungal endophyte, Epichloë festucae var lolii. The fungus produces alkaloids that protect the grass from herbivory, as well as conferring protection from drought and nutrient stress. The rising concentration of atmospheric CO₂, a proximate cause of climatic change, is known to have many direct and indirect effects on plant growth. There is keen interest in how the nature of this plant-fungal interaction will change with climate change. Lolium perenne is an obligately outcrossing species, meaning tha

SUBMITTER: Geddes-McAlister J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7770580 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature