''Alternaria penicillata'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the family

Pleosporaceae Pleosporaceae is a family (biology), family of sac fungi. They are pathogenic to humans or saprobic on woody and dead herbaceous stems or leaves. They are generally Teleomorph, anamorph and holomorph, anamorphic species (having an asexual reprod ...

, which causes

leaf blight Blight is a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. Description Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs. Ac ...

opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum'', commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable orname ...

. The fungus is found in Europe, Australia, India, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, USA and Zambia. It was formerly ''Crivellia papaveracea'' in the monotypic genus ''Crivellia''. With

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

analyses showing that it was related to ''

Alternaria brassicicola ''Alternaria brassicicola'' is a fungal necrotrophic plant pathogen that causes black spot disease on a wide range of hosts, particularly in the genus of ''Brassica'', including a number of economically important crops such as cabbage, Chinese ca ...

'' , '' Alternaria japonica'' , and '' Ulocladium alternariae'' . Genus ''Crivellia'' was named after mycologist Paolo Giuseppe Crivelli (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1981). It was found in Russia and Ukraine. In 2013, a new DNA study was carried out and reclassified former genera; ''Allewia'', ''Brachycladium'', ''Chalastospora'', ''Chmelia'', ''Crivellia'', ''Embellisia'', ''Lewia'', ''Nimbya'', ''Sinomyces'', ''Teretispora'', ''Ulocladium'', ''Undifilum'' and ''Ybotromyces'' as synonymy with genus ''Alternaria''. As accepted by Wijayawardene et al. 2020.

"Agent Green" in Colombia

In 2000, the government of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

proposed dispersing strains of ''Crivellia'' and another fungus, ''

Fusarium oxysporum ''Fusarium oxysporum'' (Schlecht as emended by Snyder and Hansen), an ascomycete fungus, comprises all the species, varieties and forms recognized by Wollenweber and Reinking within an infrageneric grouping called section Elegans. It is part of ...

'', also known as Agent Green, as a

biological weapon Biological agents, also known as biological weapons or bioweapons, are pathogens used as weapons. In addition to these living or replicating pathogens, toxins and Toxin#Biotoxins, biotoxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,2 ...

to forcibly eradicate

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...

and other illegal crops. The weaponized strains were developed by the US government, who had conditioned their approval of

Plan Colombia Plan Colombia was a United States foreign aid, military aid, and diplomatic initiative aimed at combating Colombian drug cartels and left-wing insurgent groups. The plan was originally conceived in 1999 by the administrations of Colombian Presid ...

on the use of this weapon, but ultimately withdraw that condition. In February 2001, the EU Parliament also issued a declaration specifically against the use of these biological agents in warfare.

References

Pleosporaceae Fungi of Africa Fungi of Asia Fungi of Australia Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Taxa described in 2013 Fungus species {{Pleosporales stub