''Geosmithia morbida'' is a

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 ...

anamorphic Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...

fungus 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 th ...

in the Bionectriaceae family that, together with the activity of the

walnut twig beetle ''Pityophthorus juglandis'', also known as the walnut twig beetle for feeding on several different species of walnut trees, ''Juglans'', is one of only a few species in the genus ''Pityophthorus'' that is associated with hardwoods and the only on ...

, causes

thousand cankers disease Thousand cankers disease (TCD) is a recently recognized disease of certain walnuts (''Juglans'' spp.). The disease results from the combined activity of the walnut twig beetle (''Pityophthorus juglandis'') and a canker producing fungus, '' Geosmi ...

in species of

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

trees (''

Juglans Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus ''Juglans'', the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, tall, with pinnate leaves , with 5–25 leaflets; t ...

spp.''). It was described as new to science in 2010 from specimens collected in the southern United States. The fungus, transmitted by the

, ''Pityophthorus juglandis'', is known from the western USA from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. The

canker A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

s resulting from infection restrict nutrient flow and typically kill the

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

tree within three to four years. Based on closeness of

internal transcribed spacer Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) is the spacer DNA situated between the small-subunit ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and large-subunit rRNA genes in the chromosome or the corresponding transcribed region in the polycistronic rRNA precursor transcript. I ...

DNA, the closest relative of ''G. morbida'' is '' G. fassatiae''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''morbida'' refers to the deadly

pathogenic 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 ...

effect it has on its host.

References

External links

*
USDA ARS Fungal Database
* * Bionectriaceae morbida Fungi described in 2010 Fungi of the United States Fungal tree pathogens and diseases Nut tree diseases Fungi without expected TNC conservation status {{Hypocreales-stub