ARS | Publication request: LOCATION OF AN ENDOPHYTIC NEOTYPHODIUM SP. WITHIN VARIOUS LEAF TISSUES OF WILD BARLEY (HORDEUM BREVISUBULATUM SUBSP. VIOLACEUM)

Submitted to: Plant Genetic Resources International Board Newsletter
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 7, 2000
Publication Date: October 1, 2000
Citation: Youssef, N.N., Dugan, F.M. 2000. Location of an endophytic neotyphodium sp. within various leaf tissues of wild barley (hordeum brevisubulatum subsp. violaceum). Plant Genetic Resources International Board Newsletter. 124:17-19.

Interpretive Summary: Clavicipitaceous endophytes of grasses are of interest because the presence of the endophyte inside grass tissues often makes the grass less palatable to insect pests. On the other hand, it can also make a grass toxic to livestock. The precise location of the endophyte within grass tissues is often of interest to persons performing experimental work on grasses infected with such endophytes. Persons assaying grasses for the presence of endophytes also want to know the probable site(s) of infection. This paper presents new information regarding the location of this particular endophyte in one species of wild barley, and relays details of a low-cost technique for rendering the endophyte visible in the barley leaf tissues. The location of this endophyte in its host differs somewhat from that of similar endophytes in other grass/endophyte systems.

Technical Abstract: Histological techniques enabled visualization of fungal hyphae of Neotyphodium sp. within coleoptile leaf tissues of seedlings of wild barley, Hordeum brevisubulatum subsp. violaceum. Hyphae were predominantly intercellular and commonly distributed at low density within mesophyll tissues; hyphae were also immediately adjacent to or just inside sheath cells of the vascular bundle, or in contact with the inner walls of epidermal cells. Intracellular hyphae were extremely rare; extensive colonization of vascular tissue was lacking.