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<OL> <LI> To develop effective controls of Fusarium moniliforme and other endophytic fungiin grasses, to utilize competitive exclusion organisms as biocontrols, and to develop modified grass endophytes and improve forage grass. <LI> Determine abiotic environmental factors interactive with in planta accumulation pattern of fumonisins; evaluate and develop biological interventions (bacterial endophyte and Trichoderma sp.)
Develop methods to prevent the occurrence of endophytic fungi in corn and grasses,in particular those fungi producing fumonisins the toxicity of which is increasingly recognized by regulatory agencies. Specifically, to utilize competitive exclusions based endophytic fungi and bacteria as biocontrol agents. Bacteria and fungi transformed with reporter genes will be used in ecological field and greenhouse studies designed to test their effectiveness in reducing toxin accumulation. Corn plants infected with F. moniliforme will be co-infected with biocontrol bacteria or fungi, and grown under different conditions. Endophyte-infected tall fescue will be studied for increased persistence, and toxin reduction in field storage, using modified fungal (Neotyphodium) endophytes, as well as developing the means for reducing and measuring in vitro the toxicity of forage residue.