title: Stroma-bearing endophyte and its potential horizontal transmission ability in Achnatherum sibiricum.
abstract: Stromata occasionally are observed in Achnatherum sibiricum distributed in northern China. However, endophyte species that form stromata on that host have not been studied. Here we identified the first Epichloë sp. endophyte in stroma-bearing A. sibiricum. Isolated colonies of this Epichloë sp. were smoother and more compact than previously described for Epichloë gansuensis and also had longer phialides and faster growth in culture. However, phylogenetic relationships based on intron sequences of genes encoding β-tubulin (tubB) and translation elongation factor 1-α (tefA) grouped all isolates from the stromata in a clade with a close relationship to E. gansuensis. We identified the new isolates as E. gansuensis. The analysis of the stromata revealed no perithecium or ascospores during morphological and paraffin section observation. Furthermore, the ability of conidia formed on stromata to germinate and initiate infection of new seedlings was tested. After 3 mo 20% endophyte-free seedlings became infected by E. gansuensis, whereas the control group showed no endophyte infection. The results indicated the potential of cultures from conidia to mediate horizontal transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Minjie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Junhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China renanzhi@hotmail.com ybgao@mail.nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Anzhi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China renanzhi@hotmail.com ybgao@mail.nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yubao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D060026:Endophytes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D055329:Epichloe / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D006109:Poaceae / Q000382:microbiology*; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1
keywords: Epichloë; phylogenetic; stroma; tefA; tubB