Do Endophytes help with Resistance to Drought and Herbivory in Ammophila breviligulata?
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Authors
Thompson, Desiree
Issue Date
2007-04-27
Type
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The dunes of the East Coast and of the Great Lakes are
dominated by Ammophila breviligulata, also known as American
beach grass. Previous experiments completed on the species
determined that Ammophila originating on the East Coast (Cape
genotype) was infected with Acremonium typhinu, an endophyte
previously known to infect forage and turf grasses (Halisky and White
1991). Interesting enough, research currently being conducted has
shown that native Michigan genotypes are not infected (Emery,
Rudgers, unpublished data). Through our research we found that
Ammophila that had been cultivated in greenhouses had been planted
by many National and State Parks. The greenhouse supplying
Ammophila to the parks was selling two different genotypes: the
Michigan genotype grown from local plants, and a Cape Genotype
developed by the USDA Cape May Plant Materials Center. These
populations originated in New Jersey. Thus, the parks may have
been unintentionally introducing a non-native endophyte, which could
have yet unknown results.
In this experiment we used 2 different source populations of
Ammophila; Cape, and native Michigan plants from Grand Mere State
Park in SW Michigan (approximately 42.00N, 86.50W). For this study
I used a combination of feeding trials and greenhouse experiments
aimed to answer the following questions: 1. Do fungal endophytes
provide protection from herbivores or drought? 2. Do they provide
protection when both are present? 3. Do endophytes increase
competitive ability of plants?
Description
1 broadside : ill.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College