Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as toxicity or infection.
Plant pathology is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens and environmental conditions. Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virus-like organisms, phytoplasmas, protozoa, nematodes and parasitic plants. Not included are ectoparasites like insects, mites, vertebrate, or other pests that affect plant health by eating plant tissues. Plant pathology also involves the study of pathogen identification, disease etiology, disease cycles, economic impact, plant disease epidemiology, plant disease resistance, how plant diseases affect humans and animals, pathosystem genetics, and management of plant diseases.
The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles (Cantharellaceae), but also some of the tooth fungi (Hydnaceae), clavarioid fungi, and corticioid fungi (Botryobasidiaceae). Species within the order are variously ectomycorrhizal, saprotrophic, associated with orchids, or facultative plant pathogens. Those of economic importance include edible and commercially collected Cantharellus, Craterellus, and Hydnum species as well as crop pathogens in the genera Ceratobasidium and Thanatephorus (Rhizoctonia).
Rhizopus is a genus of common saprophytic fungi on plants and specialized parasites on animals. They are found in a wide variety of organic substances, including "mature fruits and vegetables", jellies, syrups, leather, bread, peanuts, and tobacco. They are multicellular. Some Rhizopus species are opportunistic human pathogens that often cause fatal disease called mucormycosis. This widespread genus includes at least eight species.
Cercospora is a genus of ascomycete fungi. Most species have no known sexual stage, and when the sexual stage is identified, it is in the genus Mycosphaerella. Most species of this genus cause plant diseases, and form leaf spots. It is a relatively well-studied genus of fungi, but there are countless species not yet described, and there is still much to learn about the best-known of the species.
Ceratobasidium cornigerum is a species of fungus in the order Cantharellales. Basidiocarps are thin, spread on the substrate out like a film (effused) and web-like. An anamorphic state is frequently obtained when isolates are cultured. Ceratobasidium cornigerum is saprotrophic, but is also a facultative plant pathogen, causing a number of economically important crop diseases, and an orchid endomycorrhizal associate. The species is genetically diverse and is sometimes treated as a complex of closely related taxa. DNA research shows the species actually belongs within the genus Rhizoctonia.
Waitea circinata is a species of fungus in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are corticioid, thin, effused, and web-like, but the fungus is more frequently encountered in its similar but sterile anamorphic state. Waitea circinata is best known as a plant pathogen, causing commercially significant damage to amenity turf grass.
Magnaporthe salvinii is a fungus known to attack a variety of grass and rice species, including Oryza sativa and Zizania aquatica. Symptoms of fungal infection in plants include small, black, lesions on the leaves that develop into more widespread leaf rot, which then spreads to the stem and causes breakage. As part of its life cycle, the fungus produces sclerotia that persist in dead plant tissue and the soil. Management of the fungus may be effected by tilling the soil, reducing its nitrogen content, or by open field burning, all of which reduce the number of sclerotia, or by the application of a fungicide.
A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from the other eukaryotic kingdoms, which by one traditional classification include Plantae, Animalia, Protozoa, and Chromista.
The Corticiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Corticiales. The family formerly included almost all the corticioid fungi, whether they were related or not, and as such was highly artificial. In its current sense, however, the name Corticiaceae is restricted to a comparatively small group of corticioid genera within the Corticiales.
Red thread disease is a fungal infection found on lawns and other turfed areas. It is caused by the corticioid fungus Laetisaria fuciformis and has two separate stages. The stage that gives the infection its name is characterised by very thin, red, needle-like strands extending from the grass blade. These are stromata, which can remain viable in soil for two years. After germinating, the stromata infect grass leaf blades through their stomata. The other stage is visible as small, pink, cotton wool-like mycelium, found where the blades meet. It is common when both warmth and humidity are high.
Typhula is a genus of clavarioid fungi in the order Agaricales. Species of Typhula are saprotrophic, mostly decomposing leaves, twigs, and herbaceous material. Basidiocarps are club-shaped or narrowly cylindrical and are simple, often arising from sclerotia. A few species are facultative plant pathogens, causing a number of commercially important crop and turfgrass diseases.
Erythricium is a genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are effused, corticioid, and grow on wood or are lichenicolous. Erythricium salmonicolor
is a widespread and commercially significant plant pathogen causing "pink disease" of Citrus and other trees.
Laetisaria is a genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are effused, corticioid, smooth, and grow as plant pathogens on grasses or agave leaves, or as lichenicolous fungi on lichens, or on dead wood. Laetisaria fuciformis is of economic importance as the cause of "red thread disease" in turfgrass.
Ceratobasidium is a genus of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Basidiocarps are effused and the genus is sometimes grouped among the corticioid fungi, though species also retain features of the heterobasidiomycetes. Anamorphic forms were formerly referred to the genus Ceratorhiza, but this is now considered a synonym of Rhizoctonia. Ceratobasidium species, excluding the type, are also now considered synonymous with Rhizoctonia and some species have been transferred to the latter genus. Species are saprotrophic, but several are also facultative plant pathogens, causing a number of commercially important crop diseases. Some are also endomycorrhizal associates of orchids.
Rhizoctonia is a genus of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Species form thin, effused, corticioid basidiocarps, but are most frequently found in their sterile, anamorphic state. Rhizoctonia species are saprotrophic, but some are also facultative plant pathogens, causing commercially important crop diseases. Some are also endomycorrhizal associates of orchids. The genus name was formerly used to accommodate many superficially similar, but unrelated fungi.
The Ceratobasidiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. All species within the family have basidiocarps that are thin and effused. They have sometimes been included within the corticioid fungi or alternatively within the "heterobasidiomycetes". Species are saprotrophic, but some are also facultative plant pathogens or are associated with orchid mycorrhiza. Genera of economic importance include Ceratobasidium and Rhizoctonia, both of which contain plant pathogenic species causing diseases of commercial crops and turf grass.
Grey leaf spot (GLS) is a foliar fungal disease that affects maize, also known as corn. GLS is considered one of the most significant yield-limiting diseases of corn worldwide. There are two fungal pathogens that cause GLS: Cercospora zeae-maydis and Cercospora zeina. Symptoms seen on corn include leaf lesions, discoloration (chlorosis), and foliar blight. Distinct symptoms of GLS are rectangular, brown to gray necrotic lesions that run parallel to the leaf, spanning the spaces between the secondary leaf veins. The fungus survives in the debris of topsoil and infects healthy crops via asexual spores called conidia. Environmental conditions that best suit infection and growth include moist, humid, and warm climates. Poor airflow, low sunlight, overcrowding, improper soil nutrient and irrigation management, and poor soil drainage can all contribute to the propagation of the disease. Management techniques include crop resistance, crop rotation, residue management, use of fungicides, and weed control. The purpose of disease management is to prevent the amount of secondary disease cycles as well as to protect leaf area from damage prior to grain formation. Corn grey leaf spot is an important disease of corn production in the United States, economically significant throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. However, it is also prevalent in Africa, Central America, China, Europe, India, Mexico, the Philippines, northern South America, and Southeast Asia. The teleomorph of Cercospora zeae-maydis is assumed to be Mycosphaerella sp.
Waitea zeae is a species of fungus in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are corticioid, thin, effused, and web-like, but the fungus is more frequently encountered in its similar but sterile anamorphic state. Waitea zeae is best known as a plant pathogen, causing commercially significant damage to cereals, grasses, and a wide range of other plants.
Waitea oryzae is a species of fungus in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are corticioid, thin, effused, and web-like, but the fungus is more frequently encountered in its similar but sterile anamorphic state. Waitea oryzae is best known as a plant pathogen, causing commercially significant leaf and sheath spots of rice and other cereals.
