Microbotryum violaceum

Microbotryum violaceum, also known as the anther smut fungus, was formerly known as Ustilago violacea. It is a Basidiomycete obligate parasite of many Caryophyllaceae. But it has now separated into many species due to its host specificity.

Microbotryum violaceum
Microbotryum violaceum on Silene alba
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Phylum:
Basidiomycota
Class:
Microbotryomycetes
Order:
Microbotryales
Family:
Microbotryaceae
Genus:
Microbotryum
Species:
M. violaceum
Binomial name
Microbotryum violaceum
(Pers.) G. Deml & Oberw., (1982)
Synonyms

Caeoma antherarum (DC.) Nees (1816)
Caeoma violaceum (DC.) Nees (1816)
Microbotryum antherarum (DC.) Lév., (1847)
Uredo antherarum DC., (1815)
Uredo antherarum var. antherarum DC., (1815)
Uredo antherarum a silenes-nutantis DC., (1815)
Uredo violacea Pers., (1797)
Ustilago antherarum (DC.) Fr., (1832)
Ustilago silenes-nutantis (DC.) Liro, (1924)
Ustilago violacea (Pers.) Roussel, (1806) Ustilago violacea var. silenes-nutantis (DC.) Durrieu & Zambett., (1973)

Meiosis in M. violaceum produces a tetrad of four haploid meiotic products. Pairwise intra-tetrad mating can occur between these meiotic products.[1]

Examples

M. violaceum can infect and sterilize the plant species Silene latifolia by acting like a sexually transmitted infection.

References
  1. Hood ME, Antonovics J. Intratetrad mating, heterozygosity, and the maintenance of deleterious alleles in Microbotryum violaceum (=Ustilago violacea). Heredity (Edinb). 2000 Sep;85 Pt 3:231-41. PMID 11012726


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