ABSTRACT Claviceps species affecting Paspalum spp. are a serious problem, as they infect forage grasses such as Paspalum dilatatum and P. plicatulum, producing the ergot disease. The ascomycete C. paspali is known to be the pathogen responsible for this disease in both grasses. This fungus produces alkaloids, including ergot alkaloids and indole-diterpenes, that have potent neurotropic activities in mammals. A total of 32 isolates from Uruguay were obtained from infected P. dilatatum and P. plicatulum. Isolates were phylogenetically identified using partial sequences of the genes coding for the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase subunit II (RPB2), translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1), β-tubulin (TUB2), and the nuc rDNA 28S subunit (28S). Isolates were also genotyped by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and presence of genes within the ergot alkaloid (EAS) and indole-diterpene (IDT) biosynthetic gene clusters. This study represents the first genetic characterization of several isolates of C. paspali. The results from this study provide insight into the genetic and genotypic diversity of Claviceps paspali present in P. dilatatum and suggest that isolates from P. plicatulum could be considered an ecological subspecies or specialized variant of C. paspali. Some of these isolates show hypothetical alkaloid genotypes never reported before.

中文翻译：

---

Claviceps paspali 的多样性揭示了未知的谱系和独特的生物碱基因型

摘要 Claviceps 物种影响雀稗属。是一个严重的问题，因为它们感染牧草，如雀稗和 P. plicatulum，产生麦角病。已知子囊菌 C. paspali 是导致两种草中这种疾病的病原体。这种真菌产生生物碱，包括麦角生物碱和吲哚-二萜，它们在哺乳动物中具有强大的神经活性。从感染的 P. dilatatum 和 P. plicatulum 中获得了来自乌拉圭的总共 32 株分离株。使用编码 RNA 聚合酶亚基 II (RPB2)、翻译延伸因子 1-α (TEF1)、β-微管蛋白 (TUB2) 和 nuc rDNA 28S 亚基 (28S) 的第二大亚基的基因的部分序列，对分离株进行系统发育鉴定。 ）。分离物也通过随机扩增的多态性 DNA (RAPD) 和麦角生物碱 (EAS) 和吲哚-二萜 (IDT) 生物合成基因簇中基因的存在进行基因分型。这项研究代表了 C. paspali 的几个分离株的第一个遗传特征。这项研究的结果提供了对存在于 P. dilatatum 中的 Claviceps paspali 的遗传和基因型多样性的深入了解，并表明 P. plicatulum 的分离物可被视为 C. paspali 的生态亚种或专门变体。其中一些分离株显示出以前从未报道过的假设生物碱基因型。这项研究的结果提供了对存在于 P. dilatatum 中的 Claviceps paspali 的遗传和基因型多样性的深入了解，并表明 P. plicatulum 的分离物可被视为 C. paspali 的生态亚种或专门变体。其中一些分离株显示出以前从未报道过的假设生物碱基因型。这项研究的结果提供了对存在于 P. dilatatum 中的 Claviceps paspali 的遗传和基因型多样性的深入了解，并表明 P. plicatulum 的分离物可被视为 C. paspali 的生态亚种或专门变体。其中一些分离株显示出以前从未报道过的假设生物碱基因型。