| 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]
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." [3]
Some selected species and hosts;
Basidiomycota is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basidiomycota includes these groups: agarics, puffballs, stinkhorns, bracket fungi, other polypores, jelly fungi, boletes, chanterelles, earth stars, smuts, bunts, rusts, mirror yeasts, and Cryptococcus, the human pathogenic yeast. Basidiomycota are filamentous fungi composed of hyphae and reproduce sexually via the formation of specialized club-shaped end cells called basidia that normally bear external meiospores. These specialized spores are called basidiospores. However, some Basidiomycota are obligate asexual reproducers. Basidiomycota that reproduce asexually can typically be recognized as members of this division by gross similarity to others, by the formation of a distinctive anatomical feature, cell wall components, and definitively by phylogenetic molecular analysis of DNA sequence data.
Corn smut is a plant disease caused by the pathogenic fungus Ustilago maydis. One of several cereal crop pathogens called smut, the fungus forms galls on all above-ground parts of corn species such as maize and teosinte. The infected corn is edible: in Mexico, it is considered a delicacy called huitlacoche, often eaten as a filling in quesadillas and other tortilla-based foods, as well as in soups.
The smuts are multicellular fungi characterized by their large numbers of teliospores. The smuts get their name from a Germanic word for dirt because of their dark, thick-walled, and dust-like teliospores. They are mostly Ustilaginomycetes and comprise seven of the 15 orders of the subphylum. Most described smuts belong to two orders, Ustilaginales and Tilletiales. The smuts are normally grouped with the other basidiomycetes because of their commonalities concerning sexual reproduction.
The Pucciniaceae are a family of rust fungi that cause plant diseases, mainly on cereals such as wheat. The family contains 20 genera and over 4900 species.
The Ustilaginomycotina is a subdivision within the division Basidiomycota of the kingdom Fungi. It consists of the classes Ustilaginomycetes and Exobasidiomycetes, and in 2014 the subdivision was reclassified and the two additional classes Malasseziomycetes and Monilielliomycetes added. The name was first published by Doweld in 2001; Bauer and colleagues later published it in 2006 as an isonym. Ustilagomycotina and Agaricomycotina are considered to be sister groups, and they are in turn sister groups to the subdivision Pucciniomycotina.
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 members of the genus.
Sporisorium reilianum Langdon & Full., (1978), previously known as Sphacelotheca reiliana, and Sporisorium reilianum, is a species of biotrophic fungus in the family Ustilaginaceae. It is a plant pathogen that infects maize and sorghum.
The Botryosphaeriales are an order of sac fungi (Ascomycetes), placed under class Dothideomycetes. Some species are parasites, causing leaf spot, plant rot, die-back or cankers, but they can also be saprophytes or endophytes. They occur world-wide on many hosts. For example, in China, infections related to Botryosphaeriales have been recorded on numerous hosts such as grapes, Caragana arborescens,Cercis chinensis, Eucalyptus, Chinese hackberry, blueberry, forest trees, and various other woody hosts.
Phyllachora is a genus of fungi in the family Phyllachoraceae. An Outline of Fungi in 2020 listed up to 1513 species.
The Ustilaginaceae are a family of smut fungi in the order Ustilaginomycetes. Collectively, the family contains 17 genera and 607 species.
The Cintractiellaceae are a monotypic, family of smut fungi, in the order Cintractiellales, but unplaced beyond that. The family contains one genera, Cintractiella with 4 species. The family was circumscribed by mycologist Kálmán Vánky in 2003.
The Websdaneaceae are a family of smut fungi in the class Ustilaginomycetes. Collectively, the family contains 2 genera and 22 species.
The Anthracoideaceae are a family of smut fungi in the order Ustilaginales. Collectively, the family contains 20 genera and 198 species. Anthracoideaceae was circumscribed by the Bulgarian mycologist Cvetomir M. Denchev in 1997.
Ustilaginoidea is a genus of fungi in the family Clavicipitaceae. The genus contains 19 species. Ustilaginoidea was circumscribed by German botanist Julius Oscar Brefeld in 1895, with Ustilaginoidea oryzae assigned as the type species. Ustilaginoidea virens causes the disesase known alternatively as rice false smut, pseudosmut, or green smut.
In molecular biology, the killer toxin Kp4 family is a family of killer toxins, which includes the Kp4 killer toxin from the smut fungus Ustilago maydis.
The Melanotaeniaceae are a family of smut fungi in the order Ustilaginomycetes, containing three genera.
Yelsemia is a genus of smut fungi in the family Melanotaeniaceae, containing four species.
Ustilago esculenta is a species of fungus in the Ustilaginaceae, a family of smut fungi. It is in the same genus as the fungi that cause corn smut, loose smut of barley, false loose smut, covered smut of barley, loose smut of oats, and other grass diseases. This species is pathogenic as well, attacking Manchurian wild rice, also known as Manchurian ricegrass, Asian wild rice, and wateroat. This grass is its only known host.
Pericladium is a genus of smut fungi in the monotypic, family of Pericladiaceae in the order Ustilaginales.
Ustilagic acid is an organic compound with the formula C36H64O18. The acid is a cellobiose lipid produced by the corn smut fungus Ustilago maydis under conditions of nitrogen starvation. The acid was discovered in 1950 and was proved to be an amphipathic glycolipid with surface active properties. The name comes from Latin ustus which means burnt and refers to the scorched appearance of the smut fungi.
| Authority control databases: National |
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