Locoweeds are Astragalus and Oxytropis species that contain the toxic alkaloid swainsonine. Swainsonine accumulates in all parts of the plant with the highest concentrations found in the above ground parts. A fungal endophyte, Undifilum oxytropis, found in locoweed plant species, is responsible for the synthesis of swainsonine. By using quantitative PCR, the endophyte can be quantified in locoweed species. Endophyte amounts differ between plant parts and in some instances do not mirror the concentrations of swainsonine in the corresponding parts. Two groups of Oxytropis sericea were identified: one that accumulated high concentrations of swainsonine and another where swainsonine was not detected, or concentrations were near the detection threshold. The plants with high swainsonine concentrations had quantitatively higher amounts of endophyte. Alternatively, plants with low or no swainsonine detected had quantitatively lower endophyte amounts. In addition, swainsonine and endophyte concentrations were not distributed uniformly within the same plant when separated into stalks (leaves, scape(s), and flowers/pods). These findings provide evidence as to why plants in the same population accumulate different concentrations of swainsonine, and they have important implications for sampling of locoweed plants.

Locoweeds are defined as Astragalus and Oxytropis species that induce locoism due to the toxic alkaloid swainsonine. Swainsonine was detected in all parts of Astragalus lentiginosus and Astragalus mollissimus , with greater concentrations found in the aboveground parts. Undifilum oxytropis , a fungal endophyte responsible for the synthesis of swainsonine, was detected in all plant parts of A. lentiginosus and A. mollissimus. The amount of endophyte within a plant part does not always correspond to the concentration of swainsonine in the same part. Plants of A. mollissimus and A. lentiginosus can be divided into two chemotypes: those that contain swainsonine (>0.1%; chemotype 1) and those that contain little or no detectable swainsonine (<0.01%; chemotype 2). Chemotype 1 plants in both species had quantitatively higher amounts of endophyte compared to chemotype 2 plants. Swainsonine and endophyte amounts were not uniformly distributed within stalks of the same plant. For that reason, repeated sampling of stalks from the same plant during one growing season may provide misleading results. Sequence variants of U. oxytropis exist within populations of A. mollissimus, A. lentiginosus, and Oxytropis sericea and do not correlate with chemotype. These findings suggest several possible reasons for differential concentrations of swainsonine that will be tested in future work.

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