Fungal endophyte infection changes growth attributes inLolium multiflorumLam.

Lolium multiflorumis a successful invader of postagricultural succession in the Inland Pampa grasslands in Argentina, becoming a dominant species in the plant community. Individual plants of this annual species are naturally highly infected with fungal endophytes (Neotyphodiumsp.) from early successional stages. We assessed the effect ofNeotyphodiuminfection on the biology ofL. multiflorum. We evaluated growth attributes between endophyte infected (E+) and uninfected (E–) plants under non-competitive conditions during the normal growing season. E+ plants produced significantly more vegetative tillers and allocated more biomass to roots and seeds. Although seed germination rates were greater in endophyte free plants, the rate of emergence and the final proportion of emerged seedlings were similar between the biotypes. The greater production of vegetative tillers, and the greater resource allocation to roots and seeds are likely to confer an ecological advantage to E+ plants, thus enabling their dominance over the E– individuals in natural grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]