title: Endophyte species influence the biomass production of the native grassAchnatherum sibiricum(L.) Keng under high nitrogen availability.
abstract: Research on the interaction of endophytes and native grasses normally takes infection status into account, but less often considers the species of endophyte involved in the interaction. Here, we examined the effect of endophyte infection, endophyte species, nitrogen availability, and plant maternal genotype on the performance of a wild grass,Achnatherum sibiricum. Six differentEpichloë-infected maternal lines ofA.sibiricumwere used in the study; three lines harboredEpichloë gansuensis(Eg), while three lines harboredEpichloë sibirica(Es). These endophytes are vertically transmitted, whileEgalso occasionally produces stromata on host tillers. We experimentally removed the endophyte from some ramets of the six lines, with the infected (E+) and uninfected (E-) plants grown under varying levels of nitrogen availability.Eghosts produced more aboveground biomass thanEshosts only under high nitrogen supply. Endophyte species did not show any influence on the maximum net photosynthetic rate (Pmax), photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency, or total phenolics ofA. sibiricumunder all nitrogen conditions. However, the plant maternal genotype did influence thePmaxand shoot biomass ofA.sibiricum. Our results show that endophyte species influenced the shoot biomass ofA. sibiricum, and this effect was dependent on nitrogen supply. As with most coevolutionary interactions,A. sibiricumthat harboredEgandEsmay show pronounced geographic variation in natural habitats with increased nitrogen deposition. In addition, stroma-bearing endophyte (Eg) provides positive effects (e.g., higher biomass production) toA. sibiricumplants during the vegetative growth stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology College of Life Sciences Nankai University Tianjin China; Present address: College of Life Sciences Hebei University Baoding 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 China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: AgResearch Ltd Grasslands Research Centre Palmerston North New Zealand.
authors.forename: Wade
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mace
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology College of Life Sciences Nankai University Tianjin 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 China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology College of Life Sciences Nankai University Tianjin China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology College of Life Sciences Nankai University Tianjin China.
authors.forename: Anzhi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology College of Life Sciences Nankai University Tianjin China.
authors.forename: Yubao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
keywords: Achnatherum sibiricum; endophyte species; native grass; nitrogen; plant maternal genotype