Non-systemic fungal endophytes in Carex brevicollis may influence the toxicity of the sedge to livestock
Fecha
2014Autor
Versión
Acceso abierto / Sarbide irekia
Tipo
Artículo / Artikulua
Versión
Versión publicada / Argitaratu den bertsioa
Impacto
|
10.5424/sjar/2014123-5219
Resumen
The sedge Carex brevicollis is a common component of semi-natural grasslands and forests in temperate mountains
of Central and Southern Europe. The consumption of this species causes a severe toxicity to livestock, associated to
high plant concentrations of the β-carbolic alkaloid brevicolline. This research was started to ascertain the origin of
this toxicity. An exploratory survey of alkaloi ...
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The sedge Carex brevicollis is a common component of semi-natural grasslands and forests in temperate mountains
of Central and Southern Europe. The consumption of this species causes a severe toxicity to livestock, associated to
high plant concentrations of the β-carbolic alkaloid brevicolline. This research was started to ascertain the origin of
this toxicity. An exploratory survey of alkaloid content in plants growing in contrasting habitats (grasslands/forests)
did not contribute to find a pattern of the variable contents of brevicolline in plants, and led us to address other
possibilities, such as a potential role of fungal endophytism. Systemic, vertically-transmitted endophytes producers
of herbivore-deterrent alkaloids are known to infect many known forage grasses. We did not detect systemic endophytes
in C. brevicollis, but the sedge harboured a rich community of non-systemic fungi. To test experimentally whether
non-systemic endophytes influenced the synthesis of the alkaloid, 24 plants were submitted to a fungicide treatment
to remove the fungal assemblage, and the offspring ramets were analysed for alkaloid content. Brevicolline was the
major β-carbolic alkaloid detected, and the contents were at least five times lower in the new ramets that developed
from fungicide-treated plants than in the untreated plants. This result, although not conclusive about the primary source
of the alkaloid (a plant or a fungal product) indicates that fungal endophytes may affect the contents of the toxic
brevicolline in this sedge. [--]
Materias
Livestock toxicity,
Alkaloid,
Brevicolline,
Fungal endophyte,
Plant-endophyte interaction
Editor
Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)
Publicado en
Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 2014 12(3): 623-632
Departamento
Universidad Pública de Navarra. Departamento de Producción Agraria /
Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Nekazaritza Ekoizpena Saila /
Universidad Pública de Navarra/Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. IdAB. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología / Agrobioteknologiako Institutua