Smut (fungus)
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The smuts are fungi, mostly Ustilaginomycetes (of the class Teliomycetae, subphylum Basidiomycota), that cause plant disease.
Smuts affect grasses, notably including cereal crops such as maize. They initially attack the plant's reproductive system, forming galls which darken and burst, releasing fungal spores which infect other plants nearby.
A smut infestation is controlled by removing and destroying the infected plants. In Agriculture, this process is known as destruction of the initial inoculum.
Sugarcane smut
Sugarcane smut or culmicolous smut is caused by the fungus Ustilago scitaminea. The smut 'whip' is a curved black structure which emerges from the leaf whorl. Sugarcane smut causes significant losses to the economic value of a sugarcane crop. Sugarcane smut which has recently been found in the Eastern Seaboard Areas of Australia, which is one of the worlds highest yielding sugar areas.
Corn smut
Corn smut, (Ustilago maydis), which infects maize, is a delicacy in Mexico, and Brazil, originally enjoyed by the Aztecs. It enlarges the ear of corn and fills it with sooty spores. Corn smut causes millions of dollars in crop damage every year. However, the immature galls of corn smut remain a popular delicacy and is deliberately cultivated in some areas as huitlacoche.
See also
- Covered smut Tilletia tritici (syn. T. caries) and T. laevis (syn. T. foetida)
External links
Template:Basidiomycetes-stub Template:Plant-disease-stub
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
