Fusarium culmorum

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Fusarium culmorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Nectriaceae
Genus: Fusarium
Species: F. culmorum
Binomial name
Fusarium culmorum
(Wm.G. Sm.) Sacc. 1895

Fusarium culmorum is the causal agent of seedling blight, foot rot, ear blight, stalk rot, and other diseases of cereals, grasses, and a wide variety of monocots and dicots.

[edit] Identification

Growth on PDA

Colonies grow rapidly. Aerial mycelium is whitish to yellow, tan or pale orange, but become brown to dark brown to red-brown with age. Under alternating conditions of light and temperature, rings of spore masses may be formed by some isolates.[1] [2]

Microconidia

  • Absent

Macroconidia

  • Abundance: Usually abundant.
  • Sporodochia: Orange to bronw color and relatively common
  • Morphology: Thick and bluntly pointed at their apex. Conspicuously wider above the center of the spore. The dorsal side is somewhat curved, but the ventral side is almost straight. Distinguishing character from F. sambucinum is the broader macroconidia.
  • Size: Range from 4 to 7 μm wide and from 25 to 50 μm long. Number of septa: Usually 3- or 5-septate
  • Development: Develop singly from phialides (5 x 15-20 μm). They are loose at first and are later aligned in sporodochia.

Chlamydospores

  • Abundance/Speed of formation: Usually abundant and form relatively quickly, requiring 3-5 weeks on CLA.
  • Location: In hyphae and macroconidia. Those found in the macroconidia persist longer than those found in the hyphae under field conditions.
  • Morphology: Thick-walled, globose.
  • Appearance: Found singly, in clumps or chains.
  • Size: 9-14 μ m in diameter.

[edit] External links

Index Fungorum
USDA ARS Fungal Database
FusKey - Fusarium Interative Key

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wiese, M.V. (1987). Compendium of wheat diseases. American Phytopathological Society, 124 pp. 
  2. ^ Leslie, J.F.; B.A. Summerell (2006). The Fusarium Laboratory Manual. Blackwell Publishing, 400 pp. 
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