''Ustilago'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of approximately 200
smut fungi
The smuts are multicellular fungi characterized by their large numbers of teliospores. The smuts get their name from a Germanic word for dirt because of their dark, thick-walled, and dust-like teliospores. They are mostly Ustilaginomycetes (phylum ...
parasitic on
grasses
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns ...
.
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 name
huitlacoche
Corn smut is a plant disease caused by the pathogenic fungus ''Ustilago maydis'' that causes smut on maize and teosinte. The fungus forms galls on all above-ground parts of corn species. It is edible, and is known in Mexico as the delicacy ''h ...
. Peasants in other parts of the country call it "hongo de maíz," i.e. "maize fungus."
The
genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, 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 g ...
of ''
U. maydis'' has bee
sequenced
See also
*
Corn smut
Corn smut is a plant disease caused by the pathogenic fungus ''Ustilago maydis'' that causes smut on maize and teosinte. The fungus forms galls on all above-ground parts of corn species. It is edible, and is known in Mexico as the delicacy ''h ...
References
External links
*
Ustilago' at
Index Fungorum
''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and the Institute of M ...
Ustilaginomycotina
Fungal plant pathogens and diseases
Basidiomycota genera
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