Canals Tresserras, Rosa MaríaSan Emeterio Garciandía, LeticiaSánchez Márquez, SaludRuiz de los Mozos Aliaga, IgorPujol, PabloZabalgogeazcoa, Iñigo2018-10-022018-10-0220141695-971X (Print)2171-9292 (Electronic)10.5424/sjar/2014123-5219https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/30875The 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.10 p.application/pdfengCreative Commons Atribución 3.0 España (CC BY 3.0 ES)Livestock toxicityAlkaloidBrevicollineFungal endophytePlant-endophyte interactioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessAcceso abierto / Sarbide irekia