Morphological characters within the Ustilago-Sporisorium-Macalpinomyces complex are defined explicitly. The genera Sporisorium and Anthracocystis are emended to reflect morphological synapomorphies. Three new genera, Langdonia, Stollia and Triodiomyces are described based on soral synapomorphies and host classification. The new classification of the Ustilago-Sporisorium-Macalpinomyces complex i...

Five smut fungi viz. Microbotryum scorzonerae on Scorzonera caliculata, Sporisorium aristidae-lanuginosae on Stipagrostisplumosa, Sporisorium desertorum on Lasiurus sindicus, Sporisorium foveolati on Dichanthium foveolatum,and Sporisorium vanderystii on Hyparrhenia hirta are reported for the first time for Iranian mycobiota. Sporisorium foveolati is also probably new to Asia. Bellevalia saviczi...

Sugar cane smut (Sporisorium scitamineum) interactions have been traditionally considered from the plant’s point of view: How can resistant sugar plants defend themselves against disease? Resistant induce several defensive mechanisms that oppose fungal attacks. Herein, an overall view Sporisorium scitamineum’s infection and defense are presented. Quorum sensing effects a continuous reorganizati...

The fungal genera Ustilago, Sporisorium and Macalpinomyces represent an unresolved complex. Taxa within the complex often possess characters that occur in more than one genus, creating uncertainty for species placement. Previous studies have indicated that the genera cannot be separated based on morphology alone. Here we chronologically review the history of the Ustilago-Sporisorium-Macalpinomy...

The genera Ustilago, Sporisorium and Macalpinomyces are a polyphyletic complex of plant pathogenic fungi. The four main morphological characters used to define these genera have been considered homoplasious and not useful for resolving the complex. This study re-evaluates character homology and discusses the use of these characters for defining monophyletic groups recovered from a reconstructed...

Smut fungi are plant pathogens mostly parasitizing wild species of grasses as well as domesticated cereal crops. Genome analysis of several smut fungi including Ustilago maydis revealed a singular clustered organization of genes encoding secreted effectors. In U. maydis, many of these clusters have a role in virulence. Reconstructing the evolutionary history of clusters of effector genes is dif...