Neotyphodium melicicola is a systemic and seed-transmissible symbiont of Melica decumbens and Melica racemosa, grasses endemic to southern Africa.. These species are called 'dronkgras' because they can cause staggers in grazing livestock. Similar staggers symptoms are associated with several other grasses worldwide when they possess certain symbiotic Neotyphodium species that produce indole-diterpene alkaloids such as lolitrems. Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicates that N. melicicola is an interspecific hybrid, and that its closest relatives are the teleomorphic (sexual) species, Epichloë

Epichloë

Epichloë species and their close relatives, the Neotyphodium species, are systemic and constitutive symbionts of cool-season grasses , and belong to the fungal family Clavicipitaceae...

 festucae, and the anamorphic (asexual) species, Neotyphodium aotearoae

Neotyphodium aotearoae

Neotyphodium aotearoae is a systemic and seed-transmissible symbiont of Echinopogon ovatus, a grass endemic to Australia and New Zealand. The fungus produces the anti-insect loline alkaloids. Unlike most Neotyphodium species, N. aotearoae does not appear to be a hybrid. Its closest...

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