Transcriptome response of tall fescue and its fungal endophyte in different climate change scenarios
Four tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) clones harboring the common KY31 fungal endophyte, Epichloe coenophiala, (E+), together with the endophyte-free (E-) clones, were grown under different climate change scenarios comprised of increased heat and increased heat with altered precipitation events were compared to the ambient conditions in a field setting. The goal of this work was to characterize how the presence of the fungal endophyte might affect tall fescue resiliency under climate change scenarios comparing gene expression of the E+ with E- clones, and how affected the fungal transcriptome. Sampling of pseudostem tissues was done at the beginning of the growing season during flowering and at the end of the growing season in the fall over two years from three replications of the three treatments and the four E+ and E- clones.