Epichloë coenophiala
Possible symptoms include poor weight gain, elevated body temperature, reduced conception rates, agalactia, rough hair coat, fat necrosis, loss of switch and ear tips, and lameness or dry gangrene of the feet.[1] Continued popularity of tall fescue with this endophyte, despite episodic livestock toxicosis, is attributable to the exceptional productivity and stress tolerance of the grass in pastures and hay fields.[2][3] Recently, natural strains of E. coenophiala with little or no ergot alkaloid production have been introduced into tall fescue for new cultivar development.[3][4] Epichloë coniophiala was originally described as an Acremonium species and later moved to the anamorphic form genus Neotyphodium.[5] Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicates that E. coenophiala is an interspecific hybrid with three ancestors: E. festucae, a strain from the Epichloë typhina complex (from Poa nemoralis) and a third, undescribed or extinct species similar to the Lolium associated clade of Epichloë baconii that also contributed a genome to the hybrid endophyte E. occultans, among others.