| Pyrenophora seminiperda | |
|---|---|
|   | |
| Pyrenophora seminiperda spores | |
|  Scientific classification   | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi | 
| Division: | Ascomycota | 
| Class: | Dothideomycetes | 
| Order: | Pleosporales | 
| Family: | Pleosporaceae | 
| Genus: | Pyrenophora | 
| Species: | P. seminiperda  | 
| Binomial name | |
| Pyrenophora seminiperda (Brittleb. & D.B. Adam) Shoemaker, (1966)  | |
Pyrenophora seminiperda is a minor plant pathogen that causes leaf spots on many grasses. [1] It is an important generalist grass seed pathogen [2] which causes visible cylindrical masses of black fungal hyphae (stromata) to grow from infected seeds. Hence the common name "black fingers of death" [3]
 It has been hypothesized that the fungus arrived in North America with invasive grasses from Eurasia. [4] BFOD has been suggested as a method of biocontrol of the invasive cheatgrass, one of the most important invasive species in the USA. [3] [5] Various secondary metabolites of the fungus, including Cytochalasin B, Pyrenophoric Acid-B, and Spirostaphylotrichin W, appears to be responsible for the seed killing. [6] [7] [8]
Dr. Erin Mordecai discusses BFOD and Cheatgrass during a seminar at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Michigan, Feb. 16, 2017