This is the first publication dedicated to the diversity of smut fungi in Panama based on field work, the study of herbarium specimens, and references taken from literature. It includes smuts parasitizing cultivated and wild plants. The latter are mostly found in rural vegetation. Among the 24 species cited here, 14 species are recorded for the first time for Panama. One of them, Sporisorium ov...

The presence of large genomic regions with suppressed recombination (SR) is a key shared property of some sex- and mating-type determining (mat) chromosomes identified to date in animals, plants, and fungi. Why such regions form and how they evolve remain central questions in evolutionary genetics. The smut fungus Microbotryum lychnis-dioicae is a basidiomycete fungus in which dimorphic mat chr...

MANY ENDEMIC DISEASES are controlled through the cropping of resistant sugarcane varieties. Routine resistance screening trials for a range of diseases are a core activity of BSES. Central to this is the appropriate statistical analysis of data from these trials. This is important since potentially high-yielding varieties could be discarded from the breeding program if they are incorrectly rate...

Ustilago maydis (Ustilaginaceae) has, perhaps, the unique distinction of being the causal organism of a highly prized edible delicacy and much reviled disease. The fungus causes common corn smut, a disease which can result in economic losses wherever maize (Zea mays L., Poaceae) is grown (Smith and White 1988). Common smut is especially a problem in processing sweet corn, where the galls and sp...

Fungal pathogenicity often involves a yeast-to-hypha transition, but the structural basis for this dimorphism is largely unknown. Here we analyze the role of the cytoskeleton in early steps of pathogenic development in the corn pathogen Ustilago maydis. On the plant yeast-like cells recognize each other, undergo a cell cycle arrest, and form long conjugation hyphae, which fuse and give rise to ...

Rice false smut caused by the fungal pathogen Ustilaginoidea virens is becoming a destructive disease throughout major rice-growing countries. Information about its genetic diversity and population structure is essential for rice breeding and efficient control of the disease. This study compared the genome sequences of two U. virens isolates. Three SNP-rich genomic regions were identified as mo...

Fungal infections, especially those caused by opportunistic species, have become substantially more common in recent decades. Numerous species cause human infections, and several new human pathogens are discovered yearly. This situation has created an increasing interest in fungal taxonomy and has led to the development of new methods and approaches to fungal biosystematics which have promoted ...

Karnal bunt of wheat, incited by a phytopathogen Tilletia indica (Syn. Neovossia indica) is a floret infecting disease. In the floral tissues fungus proliferates and produces massive amount of black spores. In smut fungi, belonging to order Ustilaginales, communication between cells is necessary to regulate growth, differentiation and monokaryotic to dikaryotic transition during pathogenic and ...

Extensive genetic studies (1) and limited nutritional investigations (2, 3) have been accomplished for the wheat smut organism, Tilletia caries, but information is lacking concerning its metabolism and enzyme systems. A more systematic approach to control might be realized by a fuller understanding of the nutrition and metabolism of the smut fungus. Studies designed to elucidate the pathway of ...

The evolutionary history, divergence times and phylogenetic relationships of Uleiella chilensis (Ustilaginomycotina, smut fungi) associated with Araucaria araucana were analysed. DNA sequences from multiple gene regions and morphology were analysed and compared to other members of the Basidiomycota to determine the phylogenetic placement of smut fungi on gymnosperms. Divergence time estimates i...