Effects of Epichloë endophyte and repeated cutting on nutrition compositions of festuca sinensis

Abstract

The presence of Epichloë endophyte can promote plant growth and increase the accumulation of host plant nutrients. We determined the dry matter (DM) and important nutritional indicators of E+ (infected by endophyte) and E– (not infected by endophyte) Festuca sinensis under the three-time repeated cutting. The results indicated that the total nitrogen, total phosphorus, crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), crude ash (CA) contents, and DM of F. sinensis decreased with the repeated cutting increase and reached the minimum after the third time cut. The total organic carbon content of F. sinensis peaked at the second time cut. In addition, the DM of F. sinensis was significant (P < 0.05) positively correlated with its quality CP, CF, and CA contents, and the appropriate repeated cutting times of F. sinensis was 1–2 times. We concluded that the presence of endophyte and proper cutting frequency can increase the quality and biomass of F. sinensis in Western China.