Lolitrem B | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 2018-10-29

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Lolitrem B

Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through
audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio
while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using
a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.


You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuKfABj2eGyjH3ntPxp4YeQ

In case you don't find one that you were looking for, put a comment.
This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.



SUMMARY
=======
Lolitrem B is one of many toxins produced by a fungus called Epichloë  festucae (var. lolii), which grows in perennial ryegrass.  The fungus is symbiotic with the ryegrass; it doesn't harm the plant, and the toxins it produces kill insects that feed on ryegrass.  Lolitrem B is one of these toxins, but it is also harmful to mammals. The shoots and flowers of infected ryegrass have especially high concentrations of lolitrem B, and when livestock eat too much of them, they get perennial ryegrass staggers.  At low doses the animals have tremors, and at higher doses they stagger, and at higher yet doses the animals become paralyzed and die.  The blood pressure of the animals also goes up.  The effect of the lolitrem B comes on slowly and fades out slowly, as it is stored in fat after the ryegrass is eaten.  The condition is especially common in New Zealand and Australia, and plant breeders there have been trying to develop strains of fungus that produce toxins only harmful to pests, and not to mammals.
Lolitrem B affects a kind of ion channel called BK channels.  These channels normally open temporarily to allow neurons and other electrically-sensitive cells, like some heart cells, to "reset" after they fire; lolitrem B blocks them, preventing the neuron or heart cell from firing again. This affects nerve and heart function. The channel is also involved in blood vessel relaxation, and blocking the channel causes blood vessels to constrict, raising blood pressure.