Pucciniomycotina is a subdivision of

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 t ...

within the division Basidiomycota. The subdivision contains 9 classes, 20 orders, and 37

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

. Over 8400 species of Pucciniomycotina have been described - more than 8% of all described fungi. The subdivision is considered a sister group to

Ustilaginomycotina 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 Mala ...

and

Agaricomycotina The subdivision Agaricomycotina, also known as the hymenomycetes, is one of three taxa of the fungal division Basidiomycota (fungi bearing spores on basidia). The Agaricomycotina contain some 20,000 species, and about 98% of these are in the cla ...

, which may share the basal lineage of Basidiomycota, although this is uncertain due to low support for placement between the three groups. The group was known as Urediniomycetes until 2006, when it was elevated from a class to a subdivision and named after the largest order in the group,

Pucciniales Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales (previously known as Uredinales). An estimated 168 rust genera and approximately 7,000 species, more than half of which belong to the genus ''Puccinia'', are currently a ...

Ecology

Pucciniomycotina have a diverse range of ecologies as insect parasites, mycoparasites, and orchid mycorrhiza; some have been detected in soil and water or asymptotic members living on leaves. Most are plant pathogens. Many Pucciniomycotina are

rust fungi Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales (previously known as Uredinales). An estimated 168 rust genera and approximately 7,000 species, more than half of which belong to the genus ''Puccinia'', are currently a ...

and are placed in the order Puccinales that contains roughly 7800 species (c. 90% of the group). Some members of the group are of economical importance as a pathogen on a wide range of commercial plants, e.g.

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. Pucciniomycotina is a cosmopolite and exists all over the world.

Morphology

There is a high morphological diversity in the Pucciniomycontina. The sporulating forms range from macrobasidiocarp to single-celled yeasts. The presence of simple septal pores unites Pucciniomycotina and distinguishes it from the sister groups. The predominance of

mannose Mannose is a sugar monomer of the aldohexose series of carbohydrates. It is a C-2 epimer of glucose. Mannose is important in human metabolism, especially in the glycosylation of certain proteins. Several congenital disorders of glycosylation ...

in the cell walls is also a uniting feature of the group.

Life cycle

Some members are only known from their

anamorphs In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage (morph), typically a fruiting body. *Anamorph: an asex ...

, and asexual stages predominate in most; in some species this is the only known form. A striking characteristic of Puccinomycotina is the unique developmental pattern. Rust Fungi or plant pathogenic members in Puccinales have the most complex life cycles known in the fungal kingdom, with five different spore stages. Studies have shown that Puccinales also has one of the largest genomes in the fungi kingdom, and that genome size expansion may be common. This explains the complex life cycles within the group. Puccina graminis lifecycle IT.png

References

* M.C. Aime et al.: ''An overview of the higher level classification of Pucciniomycotina based on combined analyses of nuclear large and small subunit rDNA sequences''. Mycologia, Band 98, 2006, S. 896–905. * Robert Bauer, Dominik Begerow, José Paulo Sampaio, Michael Weiβ, Franz Oberwinkler: ''The simple-septate basidiomycetes: a synopsis''. Mycological Progress, Band 5, 2006, S. 41–66, , .

External links

Tree of Life Pucciniomycotina
* http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/NaturalHistoryOfFungi/PucciniomycotinaDiscussion.html * http://tolweb.org/Pucciniomycotina/20528 Taxa named by Franz Oberwinkler Taxa described in 2006 {{Basidiomycota-stub