Concentration of ergot alkaloids in Czech ecotypes of Lolium perenne and Festuca pratensis

The content of ergot alkaloids (ergovaline and chanoclavine), and their production in October 1996 and during the period May–September 1997, were investigated in seventeen ecotypes of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and in nineteen ecotypes of meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), naturally infected with Neotyphodium spp. The ecotypes were collected in the north-eastern part of the Czech Republic. In 1996 the content of ergovaline in the ecotypes of perennial ryegrass ranged from 0·00 to 2·73 μg g–1 dry matter (DM) (one cut), and in 1997 from 0·00 to 4·65 μg g–1 DM (five cuts). In meadow fescue the content of ergovaline varied from 0·00 to 0·61 μg g–1 DM (one cut) in 1996, and in 1997 from 0·00 to 2·31 μg g–1 DM (five cuts). The content of chanoclavine (investigated in 1997 in four cuts only) in perennial ryegrass ranged between 0·00 and 3·39 μg g–1 DM, and in meadow fescue between 0·00 and 2·26 μg g–1 DM. Most ecotypes of L. perenne reacted to the high temperature and heavy rainfall in June and July of 1997 with an enhanced production of ergovaline, whereas the content of chanoclavine was not changed. Such reaction to stress conditions was not observed in the ecotypes of F. pratensis. Large differences in the production of both ergot alkaloids between different ecotypes of both plant species were observed.