52 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
52 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Ranchers and scientists have long wondered why
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horses grazing a certain grass (Stipa robusta) in the southwest stumble
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around in a drunken stupor and then collapse into a state of
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unconsciousness for days.
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Once bitten, twice shy. After the horses wake up, they never eat this
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``sleepy grass'' again.
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Indiana University biologist Keith Clay has studied sleepy grass and
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found it to be infected with an unusual endophyte, a fungus that lives
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inside plant leaves. Alkaloids produced by the fungus are the knockout
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culprits (caffeine, nicotine, cocaine and morphine are other plant-
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produced alkaloids).
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Clay found that the dominant alkaloid in sleepy grass is lysergic
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acid amide, a first cousin of LSD.
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A report of Clay's study will appear in the Dec. 18 issue of the
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journal Natural Toxins.
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Clay's discovery sheds light on a widespread, but unexplained,
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relationship between fungi and grasses.
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Here, as in many other instances, plants and fungi are involved in a
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symbiotic relationship, Clay said. The grass provides a home and food
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for the fungus. The fungus pays room and board by turning the grass into
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an unattractive food source for hungry animals.
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So in this case, ``infection'' isn't such a bad thing -- it's what
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keeps both partners alive.
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But for horses, the sleepy grass predator, eating this grass is
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almost poison. A 150-pound man would become sedated by ingesting but one
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milligram of the alkaloid.
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But a 1,200-pound horse eats 11 pounds of grass daily. And if that
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fresh grass consists of sleepy grass, that means consuming 47 milligrams
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of lysergic acid amide, or nearly six times the per-pound amount that
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sedates man.
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It's no wonder that after this knockout the horses choose somewhere
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else to graze.
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Clay does not fear that this discovery will send hordes of people to
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New Mexico and Arizona seeking a buzz by chewing on some sleepy grass.
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Lysergic acid amide is a sedative, not a hallucinogen like its
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cousin.
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And if the horses' subsequent aversion to the grass is any
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indication, the experience isn't a pleasant one.
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Clay's sleepy grass research is merely the tip of the iceberg of his
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plants and fungi research. His current research involves the
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implications of this symbiotic relationship on agriculture and the
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synthesis of new pharmaceuticals.
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--
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--
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Stephan Meyers | artn@uicbert.eecs.uic.edu
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(Art)^n Laboratories, inventors of the Stealth Negative PHSCologram
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(312) 567-3762
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