Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Ergot Alkaloid Consumption During Gestation On Maternal Performance And Fetoplacental Development, Jessica Lynn Britt

All Dissertations

Tall fescue is the primary cool season perennial forage grass in southeastern US for grazing livestock. Tall fescue the is known to be drought tolerant , disease resistant, grazing tolerant and overall very hardy. Many of these attributes common to fescue are due to a symbiotic relationship between the fescue plant and an endophyte, Epichloë coenophiala , which produces a class of mycotoxins known as ergot alkaloids. These ergot alkaloids are similar in structure to several biogenic amines, such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. When consumed, ergot alkaloids cause a syndrome known as fescue toxicosis which causes problems with weight …