Epichloë yangzii Li et Wang is a sexually reproducing, systemic fungal endophyte infecting the host grass Roegneria kamoji (Ohwi) Kent et Chen. To examine the effects of stromatal development on the host, R. kamoji plants harboring E. yangzii were collected from Jiangpu, Nanjing. Differences between stromatal plants and non-stromatal plants in terms of tillering and flowering of the plants, diameter and length of the culms, number and length of the leaves, and senescence of both leaves and culms were investigated from 2010 to 2012. Results indicate that stromal development of E. yangzii promoted the flag leaf growth of stromatal culms, enhanced thousand-seed weight of non-stromatal culms, delayed leaf and culm senescence of both stromatal and non-stromatal culms, but decreased tiller number and inhibited the emergence of inflorescence of the stromatal culms. The overgrowth of fungal hyphae blocked the emergence path and resulted in failure of the emergence of inflorescence of stromatal culms. The decrease in tiller number indicates that influences of stroma occur before plant vernalization, although stromata develop at the early stage of emergence of flag leaf sheath or inflorescence. The delay in leaf and culm senescence on the whole plants indicates signals caused by stromatal development, which can also be transferred to the non-stromatal tillers of the same plant. The mechanisms and significance of these influences, which are mediated by stromal development, need to be investigated in future research.

Some Festuca species are infected by seed-transmitted Neotyphodium fungi without significant pathogenic symptoms. Fungal isolates were obtained from Festuca myuros L. growing in Nanjing. The endophyte infection level was estimated as high as 91.4% in 148 plant samples from different sites, indicating that endophyte infection is common in F. myuros in Nanjing. Morphological characteristics of all 11 isolates were identical with each other. Phylogenetic analysis based on tefA and tubB loci indicated that these fungal isolates clustered with Neotyphodium sinofestucae, a previously reported species harbored in Festuca parvigluma. These fungal endophytes from F. myuros in China were then identified as N. sinofestucae. Small differences in morphological features and close evolutionary relationship in tefA and tubB genes were demonstrated among isolates from these two different host species. This exhibit species diversity of grass endophytes in Festuca spp.