The fungal
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 ...
''Cochliobolus'' includes 55
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 ...
, including the following
plant pathogenic species: ''
C. carbonum'', ''
C. heterostrophus'', ''
C. miyabeanus'', ''
C. sativus'' and ''
C. lunatus''.
Heterothallism and homothallism
Those
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 ...
that need a partner to mate are referred to as
heterothallic
Heterothallic species have sexes that reside in different individuals. The term is applied particularly to distinguish heterothallic fungi, which require two compatible partners to produce sexual spores, from homothallic ones, which are capable ...
(self-sterile), and those fungi not needing a partner are referred to as
homothallic Homothallic refers to the possession, within a single organism, of the resources to reproduce sexually; i.e., having male and female reproductive structures on the same thallus. The opposite sexual functions are performed by different cells of a si ...
(self-fertile). A study of
DNA sequences of
mating type
Mating types are the microorganism equivalent to sexes in multicellular lifeforms and are thought to be the ancestor to distinct sexes. They also occur in macro-organisms such as fungi.
Definition
Mating types are the microorganism equivalent to ...
loci from different heterothallic and homothallic species in the genus ''Cochliobolus'' suggests that homothallism can be derived from heterothallism by
recombination.
[Yun SH1, Berbee ML, Yoder OC, Turgeon BG. Evolution of the fungal self-fertile reproductive life style from self-sterile ancestors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 May 11;96(10):5592-7. PMCID: PMC21905 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.96.10.5592]
Brief species information
* ''
Cochliobolus carbonum'', affects corn and maize.
* ''
Cochliobolus heterostrophus'', "southern corn blight," affects corn and maize.
* ''
Cochliobolus lunatus'', affects sugar cane.
* ''
Cochliobolus stenospilus'', "brown stripe," affects sugar cane.
See also
*
Phytopathology
References
Fungal plant pathogens and diseases
{{Pleosporales stub