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Epichloë spp. often form mutualistic interactions with cool-season grasses, such as Lolium perenne . However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this interaction remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed reduced representation bisulfite sequencing method (epiGBS) to investigate the impact of the Epichloë sp. Lp TG-3 strain AR37 on the methylome of L. perenne across multiple grass generations and under drought stress conditions. Our results showed that the presence of the endophyte leads to a decrease in DNA methylation across genomic features, with differentially methylated regions primarily located in intergenic regions and CHH contexts. The presence of the endophyte was consistently associated with hypomethylation in plants across generations. This research sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms governing the mutualistic interaction between Epichloë sp. Lp TG-3 strain AR37 and L. perenne . It underscores the role of methylation changes associated with endophyte infection and suggests that the observed global DNA hypomethylation in L. perenne may be influenced by factors such as the duration of the endophyte-plant association and the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic changes over time.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1258100.].[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1258100.].

Elymus dahucirus is an essential plant for ecological restoration in fragile ecological areas and mining area restoration. As lawn grass, it can quickly cover soil and prevent soil erosion, so it is commonly used as a pioneer grass for lawn greening and slope protection. In recent years, with the development of mineral resources, Qinghai–Tibet Plateau soil is facing the threat of heavy metal cadmium (Cd) pollution. E. dahuricus can host the filamentous fungus Epichloë bromicola. To make better use of the advantages that Epichloë bring to host plants to alleviate heavy metal pollution in soil, plant growth and antioxidant capacity effects on E. bromicola infected (E+) and uninfected (E−) E. dahuricus were determined under Cd stress. During Cd treatment, plant growth was decreased by Cd stress, while E+ plants exhibited equal or better growth compared to E− plants. Cd treatment induces a proline and antioxidant enzyme burst in infected plants, while malondialdehyde (MDA) increases. E. bromicola improved plant growth and antioxidant capacity. E. dahuricus breeding strategies could use the information here in efforts to improve the performance of E. dahuricus in both environmental protection and agronomic contexts.

The inoculation of Epichloë endophytes into modern cereals, resulting in systemic infection, depends on the genetics of both the host and the endophyte strain deployed. Until very recently, the only modern cereal to have been infected with Epichloë, in which normal phenotype seed-transmitted associations were achieved, is rye (Secale cereale). Whilst minor in-roads have been achieved in infecting hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum), the phenotypes of these associations have all been extremely poor, including host death and stunting. To identify host genetic factors that may impact the compatibility of Epichloë infection in wheat, wheat–alien chromosome addition/substitution lines were inoculated with Epichloë, and the phenotypes of infected plants were assessed. Symbioses were identified whereby infected wheat plants were phenotypically like uninfected controls. These plants completed their full lifecycle, including the vertical transmission of Epichloë into the next generation of grain, and represent the first ever compatible wheat–Epichloë associations to be created.

The relationship between cool-season grasses and fungal endophytes is widely regarded as mutualistic, but there is growing uncertainty about whether changes in resource supply and environment benefit both organisms to a similar extent. Here, we infected two perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) cultivars (AberDove, Fennema) that differ in carbohydrate content with three strains of Neotyphodium lolii (AR1, AR37, common strain) that differ intrinsically in alkaloid profile. We grew endophyte-free and infected plants under high and low nitrogen (N) supply and used quantitative PCR (qPCR) to estimate endophyte concentrations in harvested leaf tissues. Endophyte concentration was reduced by 40% under high N supply, and by 50% in the higher sugar cultivar. These two effects were additive (together resulting in 75% reduction). Alkaloid production was also reduced under both increased N supply and high sugar cultivar, and for three of the four alkaloids quantified, concentrations were linearly related to endophyte concentration. The results stress the need for wider quantification of fungal endophytes in the grassland-foliar endophyte context, and have implications for how introducing new cultivars, novel endophytes or increasing N inputs affect the role of endophytes in grassland ecosystems.

Aphids are major pests of cereal and pasture grasses throughout the world, vectoring disease and reducing plant production. There are few control options other than insecticides. Epichloë endophytes that produce loline alkaloids in their hosts provide a possible mechanism of control, with both meadow fescue and tall fescue naturally infected with loline-producing endophytes showing a resistance to Rhopalosiphum padi. We screened Elymus spp. naturally infected with endophytes that produced loline alkaloids at concentrations known to affect aphids on fescue but found no effect on these insects infesting Elymus. A synthetic loline-producing endophyte association with rye also had no effect on the aphids. After hypothesizing that the lolines were being translocated in the xylem in Elymus and rye rather than the phloem, we tested the rye and meadow fescue infected with loline-producing endophytes against a xylem feeding spittlebug. The endophyte in rye inhibited the feeding of the insect and reduced its survival, whereas the endophyte-infected meadow fescue had no effect on the spittlebug but reduced the number of aphids. Lolines applied to the potting medium of endophyte-free and endophyte-infected rye, ryegrass, and tall fescue resulted in a decrease in the aphid populations on the endophyte-free pasture grasses relative to the untreated controls but had no effect on aphid numbers on the rye. We tentatively conclude that lolines, produced in both natural and synthetic association with Elymus and rye, are partitioned in the xylem rather than the phloem, where they are inaccessible to aphids.

Infection of the pasture grass Lolium perenne with the seed-transmitted fungal endophyte Epichloë festucae enhances its resilience to biotic and abiotic stress. Agricultural benefits of endophyte infection can be increased by generating novel symbiotic associations through inoculating L. perenne with selected Epichloë strains. Natural symbioses have coevolved over long periods. Thus, artificial symbioses will probably not have static properties, but symbionts will coadapt over time improving the fitness of the association. Here we report for the first time on temporal changes in a novel association of Epichloë strain AR37 and the L. perenne cultivar Grasslands Samson. Over nine generations, a seed maintenance program had increased the endophyte seed transmission rates to > 95% (from an initial 76%). We observed an approximately fivefold decline in endophyte biomass concentration in vegetative tissues over time (between generations 2 and 9). This indicates strong selection pressure toward reducing endophyte-related fitness costs by reducing endophyte biomass, without compromising the frequency of endophyte transmission to seed. We observed no obvious changes in tillering and only minor transcriptomic changes in infected plants over time. Functional analysis of 40 plant genes, showing continuously decreasing expression over time, suggests that adaptation of host metabolism and defense mechanisms are important for increasing the fitness of this association, and possibly fitness of such symbioses in general. Our results indicate that fitness of novel associations is likely to improve over time and that monitoring changes in novel associations can assist in identifying key features of endophyte-mediated enhancement of host fitness.

Pilot projects in the past that have experimented with a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) in Manitoba and Ontario, and a recent study of the feasibility of a GBI in British Columbia, indicate that provinces are not in an ideal position to successfully implement an affordable and effective GBI. However, a GBI implemented by the federal government, financed by eliminating the GST credit and lowering personal tax exemptions, could be both effective and affordable. It could also do so without requiring the elimination of those provincial social assistance programs that are more deeply targeted toward people’s needs. By using its revenue powers, the federal government could create more fiscal capacity for the provinces to provide other cash and in-kind social supports, allowing for greater provincial benefit targeting. The federal government’s centrality in designing and implementing tax structures and collecting tax revenue make it singularly suitable for administering and delivering a GBI. Financing the GBI by eliminating the modest GST credit and lowering the current basic personal income tax exemption could provide a significant reduction in the rate, depth and intensity of poverty in Canada, without imposing an excessive tax burden on Canadians. If provinces use the GBI as a replacement for certain less-targeted provincial social assistance income transfers, the freed-up payments and reduced caseloads could also allow provinces to target more effectively those needs not addressed by the GBI. The recent COVID-19 pandemic exposed longstanding gaps in Canada’s income- support frameworks, with lower-income workers facing exceptional economic vulnerability. At the same time, the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit proved edifying in terms of how to best design a basic-income program. In addition, the federal government’s experiences with the poverty-reducing impacts of the Canada Child Benefit, the Old Age Supplement and the Guaranteed Income Supplement have moved Canada closer than ever to a workable GBI. While it comes with additional costs, those costs will be less burdensome than many GBI skeptics might believe. They must also be put into perspective, by comparing them against the costs of current and, in many cases ineffective income transfers and, just as importantly, against the human cost of leaving more Canadians living in poverty.

Endophytes of the genus Epichloë (Clavicipitaceae, Ascomycota) frequently occur within cool-season grasses and form interactions with their hosts that range from mutualistic to antagonistic. Many Epichloë species have arisen via interspecific hybridization, resulting in species with two or three subgenomes that retain all or nearly all of their original parental genomes, a process termed allopolyploidization. Here, we characterize Epichloë hybrida, sp. nov., a mutualistic species that has increasingly become a model system for investigating allopolyploidy in fungi. The Epichloë species so far identified as the closest known relatives of the two progenitors of E. hybrida are E. festucae var. lolii and E. typhina. We confirm that the nuclear genome of E. hybrida contains two homeologs of most protein-coding genes from E. festucae and E. typhina, with genome-wide gene expression analysis indicating a slight bias in overall gene expression from the E. typhina subgenome. Mitochondrial DNA is detectable only from E. festucae, whereas ribosomal DNA is detectable only from E. typhina. Inheriting ribosomal DNA from just one parent might be expected to preferentially favor interactions with ribosomal proteins from the same parent, but we find that ribosomal protein genes from both parental subgenomes are nearly all expressed equally in E. hybrida. Finally, we provide a comprehensive set of resources for this model system that are intended to facilitate further study of fungal hybridization by other researchers.

Poverty remains a persistent problem even in advanced economies, and Alberta is no exception despite robust long-term economic growth. Serious discussion of poverty reduction through a basic or guaranteed income has reemerged at the federal level and among the provinces, including Québec and Ontario, coinciding with renewed efforts to address child poverty through the Canada Child Benefit and the Alberta Child Benefit. These relatively new income support programs provide federal and provincial tax credits that are refundable; that is, unlike many current nonrefundable tax credits, they provide a benefit to families that is larger the further their income lies below the level of the credit. This paper analyzes the prospects for Alberta poverty reduction today through a basic guaranteed income achieved by tax reform that would make most of the current existing nonrefundable tax credits refundable. Our paper demonstrates that a guaranteed basic income achieved by transforming most existing nonrefundable tax credits into a single refundable credit can have substantial impact on poverty in Alberta because it more effectively transfers the income support provided by these credits to lower-income families. Using version 26.0 of the Social Policy Simulation Database and Model (SPSD/M) from Statistics Canada, we are able to simulate the impact of various options for an Alberta Guaranteed Basic Income (AGBI) that might emerge from this tax change. Our analysis sets a budget for the AGBI based on current expenditures for the Basic credit and five other nonrefundable tax credits that have a total value of$5.36 billion in Alberta. For this budget, a wide variety of program options are available based on different combinations of an income guarantee that would be the maximum amount available to a family with no other income and a benefit reduction rate that reduces the income benefit as family income from other sources rises. We consider the impact of a variety of these program options along multiple dimensions, including the poverty rate based on Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cutoffs poverty line, the depth of poverty calculated as the amount by which family incomes fall below the poverty line, income inequality measured by the Gini coefficient, earnings from the labour market, and the distribution of beneficiaries. We illustrate our approach by choosing an AGBI with a relatively low benefit reduction rate of 10% that yields income guarantees of $ 6,389 and$9,305 for families with one and two adults, respectively. While our plan is illustrative, we argue that it is sensible in light of the inevitable trade-offs between changes in the degree of poverty reduction, labour earnings and the proportion of families that benefit from a program of this nature. The plan provides benefits to 37.3% of families, effectively delivers benefits to the families with the lowest incomes, and reduces the rate of poverty and its depth by more than 20%. Single parent families and non-elderly and elderly single persons benefit overall from the AGBI, and poverty is completely eliminated for single parent families. We also consider an AGBI linked to a comparable federal plan, since the federal and provincial tax systems are integrated and the federal Liberal government has expressed interest in poverty reduction through a basic income. The federal plan we consider transforms the same set of nonrefundable tax credits as the provincial AGBI option and also eliminates the federal GST credit for a combined guaranteed basic income program budget of $ 11.36 billion for Alberta. We opt for a federal plan with a modest benefit reduction rate of 15% that provides income guarantees of$7,285 and $ 10,302 for families with one and two parents, respectively. The combined federal and provincial guaranteed basic income plans provide income guarantees of$13,674 and $ 19,338 for single and two-parent families with no other income and reduce the income support benefits at a moderate rate. Disposable income increases by 50.4% for the poorest 10% of families and by 6% for the next poorest 10% of families, and one-third of Albertans received benefits under the combined plan. As was the case for the provincial AGBI, single parent families and non-elderly and elderly single adults experience an overall increase in their disposable income but the poorest families receive significant benefits on average for all family types. The rate of poverty among all Albertans drops by 44% and is completely eliminated for single parents and non-elderly and elderly couples. While poverty remains for two-parent families and the non-elderly single person, its rate declines substantially and its depth is cut by more than half. The non-elderly single person, the family group that exhibits by far the most poverty, receives the most benefit from the combined plan, as the families with bottom 40% of incomes show gains on average in this group. Overall inequality, measured by the Gini coefficient, falls by 2.2% compared to 1.6% for the provincial AGBI alone. Our plan relies on the filing of an income tax return to obtain benefits. In this regard, it is worth noting that the rate of tax filing in Canada is very high, as about 95 per cent of persons 15 and over file a return. Those who don’t file a return and those whose incomes fluctuate can rely on social assistance as a source of income, as our plan would supplement that existing basic support program. In this regard, the provincial social assistance program could be used in concert with the AGBI to reach those who don’t file a tax return and those who require emergency funding within the taxation year because of a sharp decline in income. Our analysis has attempted to illustrate the impact that a straightforward tax policy change toward refundable tax credits can have on poverty in Alberta, particularly with federal participation in a comparable plan. As concerns about technological displacement of workers and rising inequality grow, discussion of the need for a guaranteed basic income is unlikely to abate, and we believe that tax reform to make existing tax credits refundable can be effective in delivering what amounts to a guaranteed basic income for families without serious economic disruption. Most Canadians now file taxes, making such a guaranteed basic income plan a sensible consideration for the future.