Ustilago

Ustilago
Ustilago maydis (Corn smut)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Ustilaginomycetes
Order:	Ustilaginales
Family:	Ustilaginaceae
Genus:	Ustilago (Pers.) Roussel 1806
Type species
Ustilago hordei (Pers.) Lagerh.

Ustilago is a genus of approximately 200 smut fungi, which are parasitic on grasses. ^[1] 170 species are accepted by Wijayawardene et al. 2020; ^[2] After phylogenetic research certain species in Ustilago, Macalpinomyces , and other genera in the Ustilaginaceae clade have been moved to other genera such as Mycosarcoma . ^[3]

Uses

Ustilago maydis is eaten as a traditional Mexican food in many parts of the country, and is even available canned. Farmers have even been known to spread the spores around on purpose to create more of the fungus. It is known in central Mexico by the Nahuatl name huitlacoche. Peasants in other parts of the country call it "hongo de maíz," i.e. "maize fungus." ^[4]

The genome of U. maydis has been sequenced in 2006. ^[5]

Hosts

Some selected species and hosts;

• Ustilago avenae (Pers.) Rostr. - loose smut of oats
• U. brizae - on Briza media ^[6]
• U. bullata - brome smut
• U. cynodontis - Bermuda grass smut
• U. esculenta P. Henn. - Zizania smut
• U. hordei (Pers.) Lagerh. 1889 - covered smut (barley)
• U. maydis (DC.) Corda - corn smut
• U. nuda (C.N. Jensen) Kellerm. & Swingle - loose smut of barley
• U. residua - on Danthonia californica
• U. serpens
• U. trichophora - on Echinochloa crus-galli and other Echinochloa species
• U. tritici C. Bauhin - loose smut of wheat

See also

• Corn smut

References

1. Kirk MP, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford: CABI. p.  718. ISBN   978-0-85199-826-8.
2. Wijayawardene, Nalin; Hyde, Kevin; Al-Ani, Laith Khalil Tawfeeq; Somayeh, Dolatabadi; Stadler, Marc; Haelewaters, Danny; et al. (2020). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa". Mycosphere. 11: 1060–1456. doi: 10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8 . hdl: 10481/61998 .
3. McTaggart, Alistair R.; Shivas, Roger G.; Boekhout, Teun; Oberwinkler, Franz; Vánky, Kálmán; Pennycook, Shaun R.; Begerow, Dominik (December 2016). "Mycosarcoma (Ustilaginaceae), a resurrected generic name for corn smut (Ustilago maydis) and its close relatives with hypertrophied, tubular sori". IMA Fungus. 7 (2): 309–315. doi:10.5598/imafungus.2016.07.02.10. ISSN   2210-6359. PMC   5159601 . PMID   27990337.
4. Laferrière, Joseph E. 1991. Mountain Pima ethnomycology. Journal of Ethnobiology 11(1):159-160.
5. Kämper J, Kahmann R, Bölker M, et al. (2006). "Insights from the genome of the biotrophic fungal plant pathogen Ustilago maydis". Nature. 444 (7115): 97–101. Bibcode:2006Natur.444...97K. doi: 10.1038/nature05248 . hdl: 10261/339644 . PMID   17080091.
6. bjoerns (19 June 2023). "Ustilago brizae". iNaturalist. Retrieved 30 July 2024.

External links

• Ustilago at Index Fungorum