Dichanthelium lanuginosum

Dichanthelium lanuginosum
Dichanthelium lanuginosum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Dichanthelium
Species: D. lanuginosum
Binomial name
Dichanthelium lanuginosum

Dichanthelium lanuginosum (Panic grass) is a species of grass. It grows in geothermal areas of Yellowstone National Park, USA. It is able to withstand high temperatures and high acidity in its rhizosphere.[1] In 2007 it was found that the heat tolerance is conferred to the grass by a symbiosis between a fungus and a virus. When it is colonised by the fungus Curvularia protuberata and the fungus is in turn colonised by a particular virus, the grass is able to tolerate soil temperatures of up to 65°C that would otherwise be lethal.[2]

References

  1. ^ Stout, R. G.; Stout R. G., Summers M. L., Kerstetter T., McDermott T. R. (1997). "Heat- and acid-tolerance of a grass commonly found in geothermal areas within Yellowstone National Park". Plant science 130 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1016/S0168-9452(97)00205-7. ISSN 0168-9452. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=2184908. 
  2. ^ Márquez, Luis; Regina Redman, Russell Rodriguez, Marilyn J. Roossinck (2007). "A Virus in a Fungus in a Plant: Three-Way Symbiosis Required for Thermal Tolerance". Science 315 (5811): 513–5. doi:10.1126/science.1136237. PMID 17255511. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/sci;315/5811/513.pdf. 


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