Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: smut

fungi in the class Ustilaginomycetes

#132: Microbotryum spp., the Anther Smuts 0

Fungus Fact

#132: Microbotryum spp., the Anther Smuts

Of all the sexually transmitted infections in the world, the anther smuts are probably the most bizarre. Fungi in the genus Microbotryum infect plants in the pink family (Caryophyllaceae) as well as a few other species.  When a plant infected with an anther smut tries to produce flowers, the fungus hijacks the process and forces the plant to make anther-like structures filled with fungal spores instead of pollen.  The spores are primarily transmitted to new flowers by pollinators, but can also be spread by wind or splashing raindrops.

#131: Class Ustilaginomycetes, Smut Fungi 0

Fungus Fact

#131: Class Ustilaginomycetes, Smut Fungi

These fungi are obligate plant pathogens with life cycles similar to the rust fungi. Thankfully, the smut fungi have much simpler life cycles: only one host and only two spore types.  To make matters easier, smut fungi only infect flowering plants (angiosperms), with just five known exceptions out of the over 1,400 described species.  Wondering about their common name?  Although the word “smut” has come to mean “something obscene,” it originally meant “dirt” or “excrement.”  Smut fungi produce copious amounts of powdery, black spores, which look like dirt en masse.  “Smutted wheat,” therefore, is wheat that has had its seeds replaced by the dirt-like spores of a smut fungus.