ABSTRACT
The research on grass endophytes has begun to open the door to possible biotechnological applications. The Acremonium endophytes — those fungi with a close phylogenetic relationship to the ascomycetous genus Epichloe — have a remarkable life cycle that, though perhaps not unique, is nevertheless unusual among plant-biotrophic fungi. One important advance is the advent of transformation systems whereby novel genes may be introduced into the organisms. A grass–fungus symbiotic entity can be conceptualized as a single unit, otherwise known as a symbiotum, with a definable genotype. Naturally occurring endophytes may come from three types of source material: commonly used cultivars of turf and forage grasses, wild populations of the same grass species, or different grass species. The strategies and considerations involved in the construction of selectable markers for transformation are applicable to the design of other novel genes for introduction into endophytes and other fungi.
