''Curvularia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of hyphomycete (

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

)

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) 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 ...

which can be

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") 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 ...

s but also act as beneficial partners of many plant species. They are common in soil. Most ''Curvularia'' species are found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

regions, though a few are found in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

zones. ''Curvularia'' is defined by the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

''C. lunata'' (Wakker) Boedijn. ''Curvularia lunata'' appears as shiny velvety-black, fluffy growth (on the fungus colony surface). These fluffy 'hairs', which really are branching, fine filamentous structures called hyphae, are divided inside by cell walls named septae (-> the hyphae are 'septate'). The walls of these hyphae contain dark pigments, which makes for their black appearance and which is called 'dematiaceous'. The hyphae produce brown spore bearing organs, 'conidiophores', which are distinguished by their 'geniculate'

shape, meaning they have bends of abrupt kneelike angles. The immobile, asexual fungal spores born on those conidiophores, the conidia, poroconidia, have a slightly to distinctly curved shape; they are divided inside by horizontally spreading cell walls (= are 'transverse

septate'), and have one expanded cell (the third larification neededcell) at one end (the pore larification neededend of the

conidium A conidium ( ; ), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (), is an Asexual reproduction, asexual, non-motility, motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are al ...

). ''Curvularia'' can be distinguished from the species ''

Bipolaris ''Bipolaris'' is a genus of fungi belonging to the family Pleosporaceae. It was circumscribed by mycologist Robert A. Shoemaker in 1959. Species *'' Bipolaris australis'' *'' Bipolaris brizae'' *'' Bipolaris buchloës'' *'' Bipolaris cactivo ...

'' and ''

Drechslera ''Drechslera'' is a genus of fungi. Many of the species in this genus are plant pathogens. Species The following species are accepted within ''Drechslera'':Drechslera S.Ito in GBIF Secretariat (2017). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist datase ...

'' by the way (angle) walls (septae) divide the inner structure of their spores. The name of the teleomorphic state of the type species ''Curvularia lunata'' is ''Cochliobolus lunatus'' (Fam. Pleosporaceae, Ord. Pleosporales, Cla. Loculoascomycetes, Phy. Ascomycota).

Heat-tolerance symbiote

One species of Curvularia, ''Curvularia protuberata'', is an endosymbiote of the panic grass '' Dichanthelium lanuginosum'' that can enable the grass to thrive near

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

s in soil temperatures of up to 104 °F (40 °C). The fungus confers this protective effect only when itself infected by the ''Curvularia'' thermal tolerance virus (CThTV). Plants unrelated to panic grass also experience this protective effect when inoculated with the virus-infected fungus.reference to Redman, Rodriguez, and Henson experiment
/ref>

Species

Primary

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of ''Curvularia'' commonly found in soils and on plant tissues (including seeds): * ''

Curvularia affinis ''Curvularia'' is a genus of hyphomycete (mold) fungi which can be pathogens but also act as beneficial partners of many plant species. They are common in soil. Most ''Curvularia'' species are found in tropical regions, though a few are found in ...

'' * '' Curvularia brachyspora'' * '' Curvularia caricae-papayae'' * '' Curvularia clavata'' * ''

Curvularia eragrostidis ''Pseudocochliobolus eragrostidis'' is a plant pathogen infecting commelinid In plant taxonomy, commelinids (originally commelinoids) (plural, not capitalised) is a clade of flowering plants within the monocots, distinguished by having cell w ...

'' (''Cochliobolus eragrostidis'' (Teleomorph)) * '' Curvularia fallax'' * ''

Curvularia geniculata ''Curvularia geniculata'' is a fast-growing anamorphic fungus in the division Ascomycota, most commonly found in soil, especially in areas of warmer climates. The fungus is a pathogen, mainly causing plant and animal infections, and rarely causin ...

'' (''Cochliobolus geniculatus'' (Teleomorph)) * '' Curvularia harveyi'' * '' Curvularia inaequalis'' * '' Curvularia lunata'' (''

Cochliobolus lunatus ''Cochliobolus lunatus'' is a fungal plant pathogen that can cause disease in humans and other animals. The anamorph of this fungus is known as ''Curvularia lunata'', while ''Cochliobolus lunatus'' denotes the teleomorph or sexual state. They a ...

'' (Teleomorph)) * '' Curvularia ovoidea'' * '' Curvularia pallescens'' * '' Curvularia penniseti'' * '' Curvularia prasadii'' * '' Curvularia protuberata'' * '' Curvularia senegalensis'' * ''

Curvularia trifolii ''Curvularia trifolii'' is a plant pathogen. Host and symptoms ''Curvularia trifolii'' is a fungal pathogen which causes leaf blight in clover. When the host plant is infected, lesions on the leaf start to appear as yellow discolored patches. ...

'' * '' Cochliobolus tuberculatus'' (''Cochliobolus tuberculatus'' (Teleomorph))

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5196111 Pleosporaceae Taxa named by Karel Bernard Boedijn Taxa described in 1933 Dothideomycetes genera