Neotyphodium spp

Malinowski DP, Belesky DP, Ecological importance of Neotyphodium spp. grass endophytes in agroecosystems. Grassland Sci 52 1-14, 2006. 

Malinowski, D. P., Zuo, H., Beleski, D. P., and Alloush. G. A. (2004). Evidence for copper binding by extracellular root exudates of tall fescue but not perennial ryegrass infected with Neotyphodium spp. Endophytes. Plant Soil 267. 1-12. 

Many hybrid Neotyphodium spp. were identified and characterized by analyses similar to those used for N. uncinatum and LpTG-2 (Table 1 Figs. 4 and 5). Of particular interest are the tall fescue endophytes—namely, N. coenophialum, FaTG-2 and FaTG-3 (Tsai et al., 1994)—plus N. occultans from the annual Lolium spp. (Moon et al., 2000). For each of these endophytes one ancestor is derived from clade n, most closely related to E. baconii (Figs. 4 and 5). Various... 

Interestingly, in limited analyses to date, there is no evidence for clustering of genes encoding DMAT synthase and LPS in Neotyphodium spp. If the Neotyphodium spp. genes are clustered, then their spatial relationships would have to be different from those observed for the genes in the C. purpurea cluster (J. Wang, D. G. Panaccione, C. L. Schardl, unpublished data). 

There is considerable variation in the life cycles of different Epichloe species and in different host populations (White, 1988 Leuchtmann and Clay, 1997). In some species, stromata are formed invariably on all tillers of infected grass hosts, so that seed production is completely suppressed. This type of symbiosis represents the antagonistic extreme. Other species display both sexual and asexual cycles (balanced transmission) on different tillers of an infected plant, or on different subsets of individuals of a host population where seed transmission is often predominant. These associations are considered to be more mutualistic. In a third category, no stromata are formed on any of the infected plants, and seed transmission is the only means of dispersal. The latter group includes genetically distinct strains derived from sexual Epichloe spp. and all Neotyphodium species. 

Many of the intermediates and several of the enzymatic steps involved in the biosynthesis of ergot alkaloids have been studied in Claviceps species (e.g., Floss, 1976 Waller and Dermer, 1981 Kozikowski et al., 1988 Shibuya et al., 1990) and are outlined in Figs. 1-3. However, much about the pathway remains to be investigated. A similar pathway is expected in Neotyphodium, Epichloe, and Balansia spp. given their phylogenetic relationship to Claviceps (Glenn et al., 1996 Craven et al., 2001) and the presence of similar DNA sequences for two of the genes in the pathway (described below). 

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