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 like Mycosarcoma.[3]
| 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.
| |
Uses
editUstilago 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]
Hosts
editSome selected species and hosts;
- U. avenae (Pers.) Rostr. - loose smut of oats
- 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. tritici C. Bauhin - loose smut of wheat
U. bullata - brome smut
U. cynodontis - Bermuda grass smut
U. residua - hosts on Danthonia californica
U. trichophora - hosts on Echinochloa crus-galli and other Echinochloa sp.
U. brizae - hosts on Briza media[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Kirk MP, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford: CABI. p. 718. ISBN 0-85199-826-7.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Laferrière, Joseph E. 1991. Mountain Pima ethnomycology. Journal of Ethnobiology 11(1):159-160.
- ^ 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. doi:10.1038/nature05248. hdl:10261/339644. PMID 17080091.
- ^ bjoerns (2023-06-19). "Ustilago brizae". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
External links
edit