Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales.
The Russulaceae are a diverse family of fungi in the order Russulales, with roughly 1,900 known species and a worldwide distribution. They comprise the brittlegills and the milk-caps, well-known mushroom-forming fungi that include some edible species. These gilled mushrooms are characterised by the brittle flesh of their fruitbodies.
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.
Corticium roseum is a species of fungus in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are effused, smooth, corticioid, and pink. The species has a wide, north and south temperate distribution and in Europe is typically found on dead, attached branches of Salix and Populus.
Phanerochaete is a genus of crust fungi in the family Phanerochaetaceae.
Capnodiales is a diverse order of Dothideomycetes, initially based on the family Capnodiaceae, also known as sooty mold fungi. Sooty molds grow as epiphytes, forming masses of black cells on plant leaves and are often associated with the honeydew secreted by insects feeding on plant sap. This diverse order has been expanded by the addition of several families formerly thought unrelated and now also includes saprobes, endophytes, plant pathogens, lichens and rock-inhabiting fungi. The new additions include the genus Mycosphaerella containing the causal agents of several economically important crop and tree diseases. A small number of these fungi are also able to parasitise humans and animals, including species able to colonise human hair shafts.
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.
The Corticiales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order is composed of corticioid fungi. Species within the order are generally saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters, but several are parasitic on grasses or lichens. Plant pathogens of economic importance include Erythricium salmonicolor, Laetisaria fuciformis, Waitea circinata, Waitea oryzae, and Waitea zeae.
Phlebia is a genus of mostly crust fungi in the family Meruliaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution. Phlebia species cause white rot.
Corticium is a genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are effused, corticioid, smooth, and grow on dead wood. One species, C. silviae, is lichenicolous. The genus was formerly used in a very wide sense for almost any effused corticioid fungi.
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.
Cystostereum is a genus of crust fungi in the family Cystostereaceae. The generic name combines the Greek word κύστις ("bladder") with Stereum.
Dentocorticium is a genus of six species of poroid fungi in the family Polyporaceae. The genus was revised in 2018, with several new species added and some older species transferred to other genera, based on phylogenetic analyses.
The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps that are formed on the undersides of dead tree trunks or branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or patch fungi. Originally such fungi were referred to the genus Corticium and subsequently to the family Corticiaceae, but it is now known that all corticioid species are not necessarily closely related. The fact that they look similar is an example of convergent evolution. Since they are often studied as a group, it is convenient to retain the informal (non-taxonomic) name of "corticioid fungi" and this term is frequently used in research papers and other texts.
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.
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.
Marchandiomyces is a genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae.
In biology, a pathogen, in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ.
James Donald Lawrey is a biologist, specialising in lichens. He is known for leading long-term monitoring projects, taxonomy and studies of the evolution of the fungi in lichens.
