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 (phylum

Basidiomycota Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

) and can cause plant disease. The smuts are grouped with the other basidiomycetes because of their commonalities concerning sexual reproduction. Smuts are cereal and crop pathogens that most notably affect members of the grass family (

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

) and sedges (

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...

). Economically important hosts include maize, barley, wheat, oats,

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

, and forage grasses. They eventually hijack the plants' reproductive systems, forming

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

s which darken and burst, releasing fungal teliospores which infect other plants nearby. Before infection can occur, the smuts need to undergo a successful mating to form dikaryotic hyphae (two

haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

cells fuse to form a dikaryon).

Wild rice smut

Ustilago esculenta ''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 o ...

'' 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 ('' Zizania latifolia''), also known as Manchurian ricegrass, Asian wild rice, and wateroat. This grass is its only known host. When the fungus invades the host plant it causes it to hypertrophy, its cells increasing in size and number. The fungus destroys the flowering structures of the plant, so it does not make seed. The crop is propagated asexually, by

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. New sprouts are infected by spores in the environment, which is generally a paddy. The fungus can also be transmitted directly in the rhizome. Manchurian wild rice is grown as an agricultural crop across Asia. The success of the crop depends on the smut fungus ''Ustilago esculenta''. The grass is not grown for its grain, as are other wild rice species, but for the stems, which swell into juicy galls when infected with the smut. The galled stems are harvested as a vegetable known as

Simp ''Simp'' is an internet slang term describing someone who shows excessive sympathy and attention toward another person, typically someone who does not reciprocate the same feelings, in pursuit of affection or a sexual relationship. ''Urban Di ...

: 茭笋;

Trad Trad. is often an abbreviation of the word "traditional". It may also refer to: Music *Trad jazz, a style of jazz music in the 1950s and 1960s *Néo-trad, a musical style that arose in Quebec around the turn of the 21st century *Irish traditional m ...

: 茭筍 ( Pinyin: jiāo sǔn) or 茭白 (Pinyin: jiāo bāi) in China. Its Japanese name is makomotake. It is popular for its tender flavor and texture. Its taste resembles fresh bamboo shoots. It can be eaten raw or cooked. It stays crisp when stir-fried.

Sugarcane smut

Sugarcane smut is caused by the fungus '' Sporisorium scitamineum''; smut was previously known as '' Ustilago scitaminea''. The smut 'whip' is a curved black structure which emerges from the leaf whorl, and which aids in the spreading of the disease. Sugarcane smut causes significant losses to the economic value of a

crop. Sugarcane smut has recently been found in the eastern seaboard areas of Australia, one of the world's highest-yielding sugar areas. For the

crop to be infected by the disease, large spore concentrations are needed. The fungi uses its ''smut-whip'' to ensure that the disease is spread to other plants, which usually occurs over a time period of three months. As the inoculum is spread, the younger sugarcane buds just coming out of the soil will be the most susceptible. Because water is necessary for spore germination, irrigation has been shown to be a factor in spreading the disease. Therefore, special precautions need to be taken during irrigation to prevent spreading of the smut. Another way to prevent the disease from occurring in the sugarcane is to use fungicide. This can be done by either pre-plant soaking or post-plant spraying with the specific fungicide. Pre-plant soaking has been proven to give the best results in preventing the disease, but post-plant spraying is a practical option for large

cultivations.

Corn smut

Corn smut (''Ustilago maydis'') infects maize and is a delicacy in Mexico, where it was historically enjoyed by the

Aztecs The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

. It grows in the ears of the corn crops and converts the kernels into black, powdery fungal tissues. The smut is sold in the markets in Mexico while other parts of the world (including the United States) continue to reject it as an ingredient for food dishes. Corn smut is currently called ''huitlacoche'' by some Mexicans, and the Aztecs formerly called it ''cuitlacoche''. Investigators have recently found that the amount of protein in corn smut is greater than that of the corn, and also greater than that of oats and clover hay.McMeekin, D. 1999. Different perceptions of the Corn Smut fungus. Mycologist. 13 (4). 180-183. ''Huitlacoche'' is used for some of the several recipes including soups, stews, steak sauces and crepes.

References

External links

''Smut Fungi'' from Deacon, J: "Fungal Biology", Blackwell Publishing, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smut (Fungus) Fungus common names Fungal plant pathogens and diseases Basidiomycota

Wild rice smut

Sugarcane smut

Corn smut

See also

References

External links