Antifungal activity and phytochemical investigation of the asexual endophyte of Epichloe sp. from Festuca sinensis

Dear Editor, Much research is now being conducted on grasses-Epichloe associations. The asexual Epichloe species have attracted much attention over the past 30 years as they can provide benefits to important forage grasses, in particular perennial ryegrass （Lolium perenne）, annual ryegrass （L. multiflorum）, tall fescue （Festuca arundinacea）, and meadow rescue （F. pratense） [1]. Some findings epichloe endophyte （E＋） are suggest that grasses with an more resistant to pathogenic fungi than uninfected （E-） grass [1]. Tests using detached and attached leaves have shown that the size of lesions caused by pathogenic fungi are smaller on E＋ leaves than on E- leaves [2]. Products inhibitory to plant pathogenic fungi are produced by epichloe endophytes growing saprotrophically [3,4].