Survival of the Tall Fescue Endophyte in the Digestive Tract of Cattle and Horses

The endophytic fungus of tall fescue, Acremonium coenophialum, is naturally disseminated only by infected seed. Grazing livestock could serve as potential vectors of this fungus, and stockmen could unwittingly encourage its spread by inappropriate movement of animals between pastures. To test this possibility, a series of experiments were conducted in which cattle were fed a single dose or were allowed to graze ad libitum. Viable endophyte-infected (EI) seeds were recovered from the feces (...)