WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The right combination of compounds produced by a beneficial fungus could lead to grasses that require fewer pesticides and are safer for wildlife and grazing animals, according to Purdue University scientists.
Neotyphodium is a fungus called an endophyte. It lives symbiotically, feeding off many species of grasses while providing the grass with protection from insects such as black cutworm. But Neotyphodium also can be toxic to animals based on the types of alkaloids it produces. It was once a serious concern for pasture managers.
Scientists have previously eliminated alkaloid profiles that caused toxicity in livestock, meaning pasture managers could feed their livestock without making them sick. But in making the grasses safe for animals, their susceptibility to insects came into question.
"These endophytes have changed everything for farmers who let their animals graze," said Douglas Richmond, a Purdue assistant professor of turfgrass entomology and applied ecology. "But they created another potential problem."
Richmond worked with researchers in New Zealand to assemble a series of Neotyphodium endophytes that are safe for livestock consumption and tested them to see which would also act as natural insecticides. They found a relatively few strains of the fungus that meet both criteria by producing two key alkaloid toxins - N-acetyl norloline and peramine which are a product of the fungal metabolism. The scientists determined they were effective by characterizing insect growth and survival on grasses with different alkaloid profiles.
Richmond said that grasses naturally infected with the desired endophyte strains can now be propagated for commercial production.
"Both are relatively safe for mammals and other grazing wildlife," Richmond said. "Now the seed industry can put these endophytes into turf and pasture grasses and not worry about potential non-target effects."
Those e
'/>"/>
| Contact: Brian Wallheimer bwallhei@purdue.edu 765-496-2050 Purdue University Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology news :
1. Scripps Research scientists pinpoint shape-shifting mechanism critical to protein signaling
2. New cellular surprise may help scientists better understand human mitochondrial diseases
3. Scripps Research scientists establish new class of anti-diabetic compound
4. Scripps Research scientists produce first stem cells from endangered species
5. Scientists announce human intestinal stem cell breakthrough for regenerative medicine
6. Scientists unravel the cause of rare genetic disease: Goldman-Favre Syndrome explained
7. Hurricane Irene: Scientists collect water quality and climate change data from huge storm
8. Tropical coral could be used to create novel sunscreens for human use, say scientists
9. Scientists find new drug candidates for set of protein-folding diseases
10. Weight loss without the hunger: Cornell scientists say eat a lighter lunch
11. Scientists receive grant to develop new DNA sequencing method
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |