Plant Pathology Commons^™

Biology Of The Epichloë-Botanophila Interaction: An Intriguing Association Between Fungi And Insects, Thomas L. Bultman, Adrian Leuchtmann

Thomas L. Bultman

Epichloë fungi (Ascomycota: Clavicipitaceae) are endophytes of grasses that can produce epiphytic stromata on the culms of their hosts. The fungal stromata are visited by Botanophila flies for feeding and egg laying. We review research over the past 20 years that has documented the heterothallic mating system of Epichloë, the mutualistic service of spermatization flies provide for the fungus, and host selection by flies. Flies display an active, stereotypical behavior immediately following oviposition by which spermatia are transferred endozoochorously to stromata. After eggs hatch larvae feed on developing perithecia. Several studies have focused on the cost (consumption of ascospores) to …