''Ustilago'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of approximately 200
smut fungi, which are parasitic on
grasses.
170 species are accepted by Wijayawardene et al. 2020;
After phylogenetic research certain species in ''Ustilago'', ''
Macalpinomyces'', and other genera in the
Ustilaginaceae clade have been moved to other genera such as ''
Mycosarcoma''.
Uses
''
Ustilago maydis'' is eaten as a traditional Mexican food in many parts of the country, and is even available canned. Farmers have even been known to spread the spores around on purpose to create more of the fungus. It is known in central Mexico by the
Nahuatl
Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
name
huitlacoche. Peasants in other parts of the country call it "hongo de maíz," i.e. "maize fungus."
The
genome
A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
of ''U. maydis'' has been sequenced in 2006.
Hosts
Some selected species and hosts;
* ''
Ustilago avenae''
(Pers.) Rostr. - loose smut of
oats
* ''
U. brizae'' - on ''
Briza media''
* ''
U. bullata'' - brome smut
* ''
U. cynodontis'' - Bermuda grass smut
* ''
U. esculenta''
P. Henn. - ''
Zizania
Wild rice, also called manoomin, mnomen, psíŋ, Canada rice, Indian rice, or water oats, is any of four species of Poaceae, grasses that form the genus ''Zizania'', and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically an ...
'' smut
* ''
U. hordei''
(Pers.) Lagerh. 1889 - covered smut (barley)
* ''
U. maydis''
(DC.) Corda -
corn smut
* ''
U. nuda''
(C.N. Jensen) Kellerm. & Swingle - loose smut of
barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
* ''
U. residua'' - on ''
Danthonia californica''
* ''
U. serpens''
* ''
U. trichophora'' - on ''
Echinochloa crus-galli'' and other ''
Echinochloa'' species
* ''
U. tritici''
C. Bauhin - loose smut of wheat
See also
*
Corn smut
References
External links
*
Ustilago' at
Index Fungorum
''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. As of 2015, the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and th ...
Ustilaginomycotina
Fungal plant pathogens and diseases
Basidiomycota genera
{{fungus-plant-disease-stub