Puccinia unica
| Puccinia unica | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Puccinia unica | ||||||||||||
| Holway |
Puccinia unica is a rack fungal art from the order of the rust fungi (Pucciniales). The fungus is an endoparasite of the sweet grass genus Aristida . Symptoms of the infestation by the species are rust spots and pustules on the leaf surfaces of the host plants. It is common in large parts of the world.
features
Macroscopic features
Puccinia unica can only be recognized with the naked eye by means of the spore beds emerging on the surface of the host. They grow in nests that appear as yellowish to brown spots and pustules on the leaf surfaces.
Microscopic features
The mycelium of Puccinia unica grows as with all Puccinia TYPES intercellular and forms Saugfäden that grow into the storage tissue of the host. Aecia or spermogonia of the species are not known. The uredia are deep cinnamon brown and usually grow on the upper leaf surfaces of the host. Their dark cinnamon to almost hazelnut brown uredospores are mostly broad ellipsoid, 26–33 × 23–27 µm in size and finely spiky. The parts that grow on the top of the leaves are black-brown, uncovered early and compact. The hazel-brown teliospores are two-celled, usually ellipsoidal to broadly ellipsoidal and 33–44 × 22–28 µm in size; their stalk is colorless and up to 150 µm long.
distribution
The known range of Puccinia unica includes southern North America , South Africa , Spain , North Africa and India .
ecology
The host plants of Puccinia unica are different Aristida species. The fungus feeds on the nutrients present in the storage tissue of the plants, its spore beds later break through the leaf surface and release spores. The species has a development cycle of which only Telien and Uredien and their host are known; Spermogonia and aecia could not be assigned to the fungus.
literature
- George Baker Cummins: The Rust Fungi of Cereals, Grasses and Bamboos . Springer, Berlin et al. 1971, ISBN 3-540-05336-0 .