Pyrenophora seminiperda
Species of fungus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pyrenophora seminiperda is a minor plant pathogen that causes leaf spots on many grasses.[1] It is an important generalist grass seed pathogen[2] which causes visible cylindrical masses of black fungal hyphae (stromata) to grow from infected seeds. Hence the common name "black fingers of death"[3]
| Pyrenophora seminiperda | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pyrenophora seminiperda spores | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Dothideomycetes |
| Order: | Pleosporales |
| Family: | Pleosporaceae |
| Genus: | Pyrenophora |
| Species: | P. seminiperda |
| Binomial name | |
| Pyrenophora seminiperda (Brittleb. & D.B. Adam) Shoemaker, (1966) | |
It has been hypothesized that the fungus arrived in North America with invasive grasses from Eurasia.[4] BFOD has been suggested as a method of biocontrol of the invasive cheatgrass, one of the most important invasive species in the USA.[3][5] Various secondary metabolites of the fungus, including Cytochalasin B, Pyrenophoric Acid-B, and Spirostaphylotrichin W, appears to be responsible for the seed killing.[6][7][8]
