Radii of Epichloë festucae colonies treated with saliva or water measured every 12 hours

We tested whether application of reindeer and moose saliva reduced in vitro growth of Epichloë festucae colonies relative to a control treatment of distilled water. We isolated E. festucae from Festuca rubra, grown from natural populations in northern Sweden, by cutting the base of the youngest fully-extended leaf in each plant. Sections were surface sterilized and embedded in potato dextrose medium with 60 mg/L of penicillin G and streptomycin. Plates were stored in the dark at 24°C for 2 weeks. We then assigned 22-25 colonies per treatment, with 5-9 replicates of three plant genotypes, and recorded the initial radius of each plate. Saliva was applied and we measured colony radius relative to the baseline every 12 hours over 2 days.