Differences in viability between two
Epichloë
endophyte species (
E. uncinata
and
Ken‐ichi Tamura, Nobuyo Yoshida, Takako Kiyoshi, Koya Sugawara Abstract
Epichloë uncinata
(
Eu
), which has a symbiotic relationship with meadow fescue in nature, can be cultured and artificially inoculated, raising expectations for its expanded use in the breeding of other grass species. However, its introduction into non‐native host species may increase the risk of unstable symbiosis. In this study, we aimed to compare the stability of
Eu
and
E. occultans
(
Eo
), a species naturally associated with Italian ryegrass (IR;