Festuca rubra

D. Vaughan, M. V. Cheshire, and B. G. Ord, Exudation of peroxidase from roots of Festuca rubra and its effects on exuded phenolic acids. Plant Soil I60 i53 (1994). 

Red fescue grass, Festuca rubra Leaf, Wales, UK distance downwind from smelter 1.5 km 814 DW 4... 

Zoysiagrass Zoysia spp. East Asia Perennial ryegrass Lolium perenne Red fescue Festuca rubra Tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Eurasia/Africa North America, Africa, Eurasia Eurasia... 

GRASS, perennial lye (Lolium perenne L.) GRASS, red fescue (Festuca rubra L.)... 

Shoots of a range of grass species were toxic to other grasses and clover when decomposed anaerobically (Table VII). Ttie phytotoxicity seemed to be caused by organic acids and was less after 20 days of decomposition than after 10. Festuca rubra > Agrostis stolonifera/ and Alopecurus pratensis residues were the most toxic which to an extent is consistent with field observations that residues of the former two species are particularly difficult to seed into. When the shoots were decomposed aerobically, some were toxic after 10 days but this toxicity disappeared after 20 days when some residues could stimulate plant growth (Table VII). 

Morgenlie95 isolated a tetrasaccharide from Festuca rubra, and elucidated its structure as being 0-a-D-galactopyranosyl-(l- 4)-0-a-D-ga-lactopyranosyl-(l- 3)-a-D-glucopyranosyl /3-D-fructofuranoside. Raf-finose and stachyose co-exist with this tetrasaccharide. 

Lam CK, Belanger FC, White JF Jr, Daie J. Mechanism and rate of sugar uptake by Acremonium typhinum, an endophytic fungus infecting Festuca rubra evidence for presence of a cell wall invertase in endophytic fungi. Mycologia 86(3) 408-415, 1994. 

Bazely DR, Vicari M, Emmerich S, Filip L, Lin D, Inman A. Interactions between herbivores and endophyte-infected Festuca rubra from the Scottish islands of St. Kilda, Benbecula and Rum. J Appl Ecol 34 847 860, 1997. 

Zabalgogeazcoa I, de Aldana BRV, Criado BG, Ciudad AG. The infection of Festuca rubra by the fungal endophyte Epichloe festucae in Mediterranean permanent grasslands. Grass Forage Sci 54 91-95, 1999. 

Previous hydroponic and soil pot research investigations have identified a number of Festuca rubra and Festuca arundinacea cultivars suitable for binding and holding various heavy metals on or within their root tissue (Kucharski and Sas-Nowosielska, 2004a). Festuca"s ability to tolerate heavy metal-contaminated soils, combined with proven cultivation methods, renders it an excellent candidate for phytostabilization projects at metal-contaminated sites where alternative remediation methods may not be economically feasible. 

Three replicates for each of the ten cultivars were established for each control and each of the three additive combinations. Thus, each cultivar was tested using 1) three control pots, 2) three pots with 2.5% Superphosphate (SP) additive [Ca(H2P04)2], 3) three with 2.5% SP additive and 10% lignite, and 4) three with 20% lignite. Controls were potted in Warynski soil without any soil additives. Soil additive specifications were determined in previous tests (Kucharski et al., 2004b). Each pot contained 400 g of soil, including the addition of any soil additive combinations. Due to variance in seed sizes, Festuca rubra seeds were sown with 250 mg of seed per pot, while Festuca arundinacea seeds were sown with 500 mg seed per pot. 

Wong YS, Lam EKH and Tam NFY (1994) Physio-logical effects of copper treatment and its uptake pattern in Festuca rubra cv. Merlin. Resour Con-serv Recycl 11 301-319. 

Recently PCR amplification and sequendng of plastidic ACCase domains involved in herbicide resistance has been employed to screen a spectrum of 29 grass spedes for target-site-based resistance to ACCase inhibitors by direct comparison of the sequences of plastidic ACCase around the critical codons [48]. The authors found that, in Poa annua and Festuca rubra, a leudne residue occurred at position 1781, while the wild types of all other grass spedes had an isoleucine in this position. Poa annua and F. rubra are already known from enzyme inhibition tests to possess a plastidic ACCase that is markedly less susceptible to ACCase inhibitors than the ACCase of other grass species. Thus, the leucine in position... 

To date, little difficulty has been observed in livestock grazing fine fescues, though circumstantial evidence suggests that their EA may have dramatic effects on populations of feral Soay sheep in the Outer Hebrides (115). On the island of Hirta, the Soay sheep undergo population crashes of 40-65% every 3-5 years, and red fescue (Festuca rubra) infection by E. festucae correlates with grazing pressure. Furthermore, mock herbivory (clipping) induced production of 8 in plants from the island, whereas 8 was undetectable in control plants. Thus, 8 appears to be an inducible defense in red fescue - E. festucae symbiota. 

Table 1. Mass (g diy weight m-2) of remaining and percent (%) of initial mass of exposed natural plant (NPL) and polypropylene (PP) litter during the course of the experiment. Significance of differences between treatments are assessed by non-parametric Wilcoxon Sum-of-Ranks (Mann-Whitney) test. AH data from five natural litter treatments (I Dactylis glomerata II Festuca rubra and III Trijblium pratense), IV mixture of three species I, II and III V mixture of twelve species, IV and nine other meadow plants) were analyzed with the exception of month where only data of treatments I and HI were used. Standard errors in parentheses.

---