Genetic structure of natural populations of the grass endophyte Epichloë festucae in semiarid grasslands

  1. Arroyo Garcia, R. 1
  2. Martínez Zapater, J.M. 12
  3. García Criado, B. 3
  4. Zabalgogeazcoa, I. 3
  1. 1 Centro Nacional de Biotecnología
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    Centro Nacional de Biotecnología

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/015w4v032

  2. 2 Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria
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    Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/011q66e29

  3. 3 Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Salamanca
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    Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Salamanca

    Salamanca, España

    ROR https://ror.org/051p0fy59

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Revista:
Molecular Ecology

ISSN: 0962-1083

Año de publicación: 2002

Volumen: 11

Número: 3

Páginas: 355-364

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.1046/J.0962-1083.2001.01456.X PMID: 11918775 SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-0036006334 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: Molecular Ecology

Repositorio institucional: lock_openAcceso abierto Editor

Resumen

Plants of red fescue (Festuca rubra), a commercially important turf grass, are infected by the fungal endophyte Epichloë festucae in semiarid natural grasslands, known as dehesas, in western Spain. We used amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to analyse the genetic polymorphism existing in two natural populations of Epichloë festucae. Linkage disequilibrium and the presence of clonal lineages indicated that nonrecombinant asexual reproduction predominates in both populations. However, most genetic variation detected was found to occur within populations, with only a moderate amount of genetic differentiation between populations (FST: 0.197). Overall, the study suggests that dehesa grasslands are useful reservoirs of Epichloë festucae endophytes, and provides information on population structure which is relevant to design sampling strategies.