Endophyte - What is it?
Did You Know...Endophyte is a beneficial fungus? Endophyte is a fungus that lives inside infected grass plants. Some grass varieties grown for turf seed have high levels of endophyte. Toxins produced by the fungus are harmful to insects feeding on the surface areas of the leaves. This natural insecticide is both non-appealing and sometimes fatal to the insects, thereby reducing the need for chemical insecticides. Affected insect include chinch bugs, sod webworms and billbugs, but not sub-surface insects such as Japanese beetle grubs. Endophyte enhanced varieties, as they are commonly called, also have increased growth and vigor, making the varieties better tolerable of drought stress, summer weed invasion, and other possible turf diseases. The advantages of endophyte are most obvious during the late summer and fall months. Endophyte is transmitted only by seed, and its entire life cycle takes place inside plant tissues. A plant does not become infected from its neighbors, nor can it infect other plants. Since it does not affect the appearance of the grass plant, its presence can be detected only by laboratory analysis. Although seed may decrease in endophyte over time, plants that are infected maintain their endophyte fungus. It is best to plant endophyte seed within two years of harvest. [From Amazing Grass Facts - http://www.ampacseed.com/amazing.htm].
If you're starting a new lawn this fall,
look for lawn seed containing endophytes. Endophytes are fungi that live in grass plants
and benefit your lawn because while they're harmless to grass, they're toxic to many lawn
pests such as chinch bugs, sod webworms and bilbugs, so you'll have an excellent biologic
pest control.
The fungi endophyte is not present in all turf grasses - Kentucky bluegrass, for example
has none - but seed companies must specify whether the seed they're selling contains
endophytes, so read the label before you buy. Perennial ryegrass and some fescues contain
endophytes and as breeding improves the levels of this fungus will go up.
When you buy your grass seed, check the lot numbers on the package to make sure it's fresh
because endophytes become less viable in prolonged storage. While these grasses are
perfect for use in the landscape, don't use endophyte grass for livestock forage because
they're known to be harmful to grazing animals.
Garden Guide is produced by the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Marketing. - http://agri.gov.ns.ca/pt/hort/garden96/gg96-74.htm
The Colonization of Maize, Zea mays L., by the Entomopathogenic Fungus, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin
- Mechanisms of induced resistance resp. tolerance by endophytes against soil-borne pathogens
- PCR-based detection of Acremonium-endophytes in flax and tomato plants
Bacterial Endophytes: Ecological and Practical Implications
An October 1999 Google search of 'endophyte' returned 1631 mainly about fungi and grasses. [the number was ~halved using 'endophytes']
Most of the above were obtained with Boolean searches on other engines excluding Festuca, Lolium, fescue and ryegrass.
Library sources include:
Carroll, G.C. (1991) Fungal associates of woody plants as insect antagonists in leaves and stems. Pp. 253-271. In Barbosa, P., V.A. Krischik and C.G. Jones (Eds.) Microbial Mediation of Plant-Herbivore Interactions. New York, U.S.A.: John Wiley.
Clay, K. (1991) Fungal endophytes, grasses and herbivores. Pp. 199-226. In Barbosa, P., V.A. Krischik and C.G. Jones (Eds.) Microbial Mediation of Plant-Herbivore Interactions. New York, U.S.A.: John Wiley.
Dahlman, D.L., H. Eichenseer and M.R. Siegel (1991) Chemical perspectives on endophyte-grass interactions and their implications to insect herbivory. Pp. 227-252. In Barbosa, P., V.A. Krischik and C.G. Jones (Eds.) Microbial Mediation of Plant-Herbivore Interactions. New York, U.S.A.: John Wiley.