Interactive Effects of <i>Epichloë</i> Endophyte, Dormancy-Breaking Treatments and Geographic Origin on Seed Germination of <i>Achnatherum inebrians</i>

Abstract

Background: the cool-season grass Achnatherum inebrians (drunken horse grass) is an important species in the northwest grasslands of China. This grass engages in a symbiotic relationship with Epichloë endophytes, which affect host plants by increasing growth, repelling herbivores, and increasing tolerance to stressful environments. Methods: in this work, we evaluated the interaction effects of the endophyte on various dormancy-breaking treatments on A. inebrians seeds from six different locations. We used both endophyte-infected plants and noninfected plants and applied four dormancy-breaking methods to test germination. Results: our results showed that the germination rate of endophytic Achnatherum inebrians seeds from the Xiahe site (with highest altitude) was significantly higher than that from other sites when water soaking was applied (p p p Epichloë endophyte is able to increase the content of soluble sugar, IAA, and GA, and stimulate the seed germination of A. inebrians.

Keywords

• internal hormone
• soluble sugar
• gibberellin
• ABA
• local adaptation