Antifungal activity in grasses infected with Acremonium and Epichloë endophytes

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Abstract
A study was conducted to determine if fungal endophytes of Lolium perenne and Festuca spp. produce (or possibly induce) antifungal substances in host grasses. These studies involved 15 representative strains of six Acremonium spp., four strains of Epichloë festucae, and one isolate each of the plant pathogens Drechslera erythrospila and Rhizoctonia zeae. A quick, simple bioassay showed that plants infected with some fungal endophytes contained diffusible substances which inhibited growth of one or both pathogens. Inhibition of these fungi was also demonstrated in vitro using a dual-culture test; however, the occurrence of inhibition frequently differed between the two types of assays and between the two test fungi. The conflicting results from the two assays may reflect the presence of a number of inhibitory substances whose production differed in planta and in vitro.

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