Plant Soil Environ., 2024, 70(7):418-429 | DOI: 10.17221/9/2024-PSE

The influence of timing and planting proportion on the intraspecific competitiveness ability of drunken horse grass (Achnatherum inebrians (Hance) Keng) by fungal endophyte infectionOriginal Paper

Jianxin Cao1, Xiang Yao2, Xuekai Wei1, Ruochen Zhang1, Jing Liu1, Chunjie Li1
1 State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems; Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Engineering Research Center of Grassland Industry, Ministry of Education; Gansu Tech Innovation Center of Western China Grassland Industry; College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, P.R. China
2 Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing, P.R. China

Drunken horse grass (Achnatherum inebrians (Hance) Keng) is a toxic perennial bunchgrass native to Northwestern China. Epichloë endophytic fungi infection could enhance the stress tolerance of drunken horse grass. However, there is a scarcity of literature regarding the effects of intraspecific competition. As a result, we anticipated that the intraspecific competitive dynamics between endophyte-infected (EI) and endophyte-free (EF) plants would become more transparent for four years by planted as the proportions of 2 : 1, 1 : 1, and 1 : 2. The results showed the EI plants exhibited more biomass, seed yields, and survival rates than EF plants. Endophyte infection also facilitated a competitive advantage by enhancing photosynthesis and soil nutrition. Our findings constituted the inaugural investigation into the influence of the intraspecific competitive ability of grass infected with Epichloë endophyte fungi. EI plants caused them to become stronger and stronger, while EF became weaker and weaker by timing and planting proportion increasing, and EF drunken horse grass could be replaced by EI. These conclusions were instrumental in elucidating why the endophytic fungal infection rate of drunken horse grass is 100% observed in natural wilderness. Epichloë endophyte could reduce plant diversity and enhance the dominance of EI plants in intraspecific competition; drunken horse grass may be threatening the persistence of native plant species.

Keywords: endure; environmental stresses; asymmetric competition; grass-fungal symbioses; endophytic fungi

Received: January 4, 2024; Revised: April 22, 2024; Accepted: May 6, 2024; Prepublished online: May 23, 2024; Published: June 27, 2024  Show citation

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Cao J, Yao X, Wei X, Zhang R, Liu J, Li C. The influence of timing and planting proportion on the intraspecific competitiveness ability of drunken horse grass (Achnatherum inebrians (Hance) Keng) by fungal endophyte infection. Plant Soil Environ. 2024;70(7):418-429. doi: 10.17221/9/2024-PSE.
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