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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #355743
Research Project: Enhancing Plant Protection through Fungal Systematics

Location: Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory

Title: Urocystis cumminsii sp. nov., a smut fungus on Themidaceae from Arizona

Author
item SAVCHENKO, KYRYLL - Washington State University
item HARPER, SYLENA - Washington State University
item CARRIS, LORI - Washington State University
item Castlebury, Lisa

Submitted to: Mycotaxon
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/2019
Publication Date: 1/13/2020
Citation: Savchenko, K.G., Harper, S.R., Carris, L.M., Castlebury, L.A. 2020. Urocystis cumminsii sp. nov., a smut fungus on Themidaceae from Arizona. Mycotaxon. 134:591-599.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5248/134.591

Interpretive Summary: Fungi in the genus Urocystis occur on many different plant hosts around the world. Because many species in this genus have similar microscopic appearances, they are often difficult to identify correctly and can be confused with the quarantine species, Urocystis tritici, that occurs on wheat. In this study, the previously undescribed species, Urocystis cumminsii, is described and illustrated for the first time on a perennial wildflower, Dichelostemma capitatum, in Arizona. This research will be used by extension agents, plant breeders, plant pathologists, and plant quarantine officials to implement management strategies and to accurately identify this and related species in the United States and other countries to keep American agriculture safe.

Technical Abstract: The morphology and phylogenetic relationships of a species of Urocystis on Dichelostemma capitatum (Themidaceae, Asparagales) collected in the Tucson Mountains in Arizona, United States, were studied using microscopy and ITS rDNA sequence analyses. This is a first record for smut fungi on hosts from Themidaceae. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS sequence data revealed its basal position in relation to species on Poaceae. As a result, the smut in leaves of Dichelostemma capitatum is described and illustrated here as a new species, Urocystis cumminsii.