Alkaloid Concentrations of <i>Lolium perenne</i> Infected with <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> with Different Detection Methods—A Re-Evaluation of Intoxication Risk in Germany?
Mycotoxins in agriculturally used plants can cause intoxication in animals and can lead to severe financial losses for farmers. The endophytic fungus <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> living symbiotically within the cool season grass species <i>Lolium perenne&l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Fungi |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/6/3/177 |
| _version_ | 1797553333996617728 |
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| author | Veronika Vikuk Benjamin Fuchs Markus Krischke Martin J. Mueller Selina Rueb Jochen Krauss |
| author_facet | Veronika Vikuk Benjamin Fuchs Markus Krischke Martin J. Mueller Selina Rueb Jochen Krauss |
| author_sort | Veronika Vikuk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mycotoxins in agriculturally used plants can cause intoxication in animals and can lead to severe financial losses for farmers. The endophytic fungus <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> living symbiotically within the cool season grass species <i>Lolium perenne</i> can produce vertebrate and invertebrate toxic alkaloids. Hence, an exact quantitation of alkaloid concentrations is essential to determine intoxication risk for animals. Many studies use different methods to detect alkaloid concentrations, which complicates the comparability. In this study, we showed that alkaloid concentrations of individual plants exceeded toxicity thresholds on real world grasslands in Germany, but not on the population level. Alkaloid concentrations on five German grasslands with high alkaloid levels peaked in summer but were also below toxicity thresholds on population level. Furthermore, we showed that alkaloid concentrations follow the same seasonal trend, regardless of whether plant fresh or dry weight was used, in the field and in a common garden study. However, alkaloid concentrations were around three times higher when detected with dry weight. Finally, we showed that alkaloid concentrations can additionally be biased to different alkaloid detection methods. We highlight that toxicity risks should be analyzed using plant dry weight, but concentration trends of fresh weight are reliable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:13:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b8ce8bb0421a479da7f393219073f6d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2309-608X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:13:52Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Fungi |
| spelling | doaj.art-b8ce8bb0421a479da7f393219073f6d72023-11-20T14:13:17ZengMDPI AGJournal of Fungi2309-608X2020-09-016317710.3390/jof6030177Alkaloid Concentrations of <i>Lolium perenne</i> Infected with <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> with Different Detection Methods—A Re-Evaluation of Intoxication Risk in Germany?Veronika Vikuk0Benjamin Fuchs1Markus Krischke2Martin J. Mueller3Selina Rueb4Jochen Krauss5Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyBiodiversity Unit, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, FinlandDepartment of Pharmaceutical Biology, Metabolomics Core Unit, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyDepartment of Pharmaceutical Biology, Metabolomics Core Unit, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyDepartment of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyDepartment of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyMycotoxins in agriculturally used plants can cause intoxication in animals and can lead to severe financial losses for farmers. The endophytic fungus <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> living symbiotically within the cool season grass species <i>Lolium perenne</i> can produce vertebrate and invertebrate toxic alkaloids. Hence, an exact quantitation of alkaloid concentrations is essential to determine intoxication risk for animals. Many studies use different methods to detect alkaloid concentrations, which complicates the comparability. In this study, we showed that alkaloid concentrations of individual plants exceeded toxicity thresholds on real world grasslands in Germany, but not on the population level. Alkaloid concentrations on five German grasslands with high alkaloid levels peaked in summer but were also below toxicity thresholds on population level. Furthermore, we showed that alkaloid concentrations follow the same seasonal trend, regardless of whether plant fresh or dry weight was used, in the field and in a common garden study. However, alkaloid concentrations were around three times higher when detected with dry weight. Finally, we showed that alkaloid concentrations can additionally be biased to different alkaloid detection methods. We highlight that toxicity risks should be analyzed using plant dry weight, but concentration trends of fresh weight are reliable.https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/6/3/177<i>Epichloë</i><i>Lolium perenne</i>toxicitygrasslandsHPLC/UPLC methodsendophyte |
| spellingShingle | Veronika Vikuk Benjamin Fuchs Markus Krischke Martin J. Mueller Selina Rueb Jochen Krauss Alkaloid Concentrations of <i>Lolium perenne</i> Infected with <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> with Different Detection Methods—A Re-Evaluation of Intoxication Risk in Germany? Journal of Fungi <i>Epichloë</i> <i>Lolium perenne</i> toxicity grasslands HPLC/UPLC methods endophyte |
| title | Alkaloid Concentrations of <i>Lolium perenne</i> Infected with <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> with Different Detection Methods—A Re-Evaluation of Intoxication Risk in Germany? |
| title_full | Alkaloid Concentrations of <i>Lolium perenne</i> Infected with <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> with Different Detection Methods—A Re-Evaluation of Intoxication Risk in Germany? |
| title_fullStr | Alkaloid Concentrations of <i>Lolium perenne</i> Infected with <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> with Different Detection Methods—A Re-Evaluation of Intoxication Risk in Germany? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Alkaloid Concentrations of <i>Lolium perenne</i> Infected with <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> with Different Detection Methods—A Re-Evaluation of Intoxication Risk in Germany? |
| title_short | Alkaloid Concentrations of <i>Lolium perenne</i> Infected with <i>Epichloë festucae</i> var. <i>lolii</i> with Different Detection Methods—A Re-Evaluation of Intoxication Risk in Germany? |
| title_sort | alkaloid concentrations of i lolium perenne i infected with i epichloe festucae i var i lolii i with different detection methods a re evaluation of intoxication risk in germany |
| topic | <i>Epichloë</i> <i>Lolium perenne</i> toxicity grasslands HPLC/UPLC methods endophyte |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/6/3/177 |
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