Ergot

This article is about the fungi. For the part of a horse's hoof, see Ergot (horse anatomy).

Ergot
Claviceps purpurea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Clavicipitaceae
Genus: Claviceps
Tul., 1853
Species

About 50, including:
Claviceps africana
Claviceps fusiformis
Claviceps paspali
Claviceps purpurea
Claviceps sorghi
Claviceps zizaniae
Claviceps lutea

Ergot (/ˈɜːrɡət/ UR-gət) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps.[1]

The most prominent member of this group is Claviceps purpurea ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals who consume grains contaminated with its fruiting structure (called ergot sclerotium).[2][3]

Claviceps includes about 50 known species, mostly in the tropical regions. Economically significant species include C. purpurea (parasitic on grasses and cereals), C. fusiformis (on pearl millet, buffel grass), C. paspali (on dallis grass), C. africana[4] (on sorghum) and C. lutea (on paspalum).[5] C. purpurea most commonly affects outcrossing species such as rye (its most common host), as well as triticale, wheat and barley. It affects oats only rarely.

C. purpurea has at least three races or varieties, which differ in their host specificity:[6]

  • G1 – land grasses of open meadows and fields;
  • G2 – grasses from moist, forest and mountain habitats;
  • G3 (C. purpurea var. spartinae) – salt marsh grasses (Spartina, Distichlis).
  1. ^ Schardl, Christopher L.; Panaccione, Daniel G.; Tudzynski, Paul (2006). Ergot Alkaloids – Biology and Molecular Biology. The Alkaloids: Chemistry and Biology. Vol. 63. pp. 45–86. doi:10.1016/S1099-4831(06)63002-2. ISBN 978-0-12-469563-4. PMID 17133714.
  2. ^ ergot Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, online medical dictionary
  3. ^ ergot Archived September 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Dorland's Medical Dictionary
  4. ^ Bandyopadhyay, Ranajit; Frederickson, Debra E.; McLaren, Neal W.; Odvody, Gary N.; Ryley, Malcolm J. (April 1998). "Ergot: A New Disease Threat to Sorghum in the Americas and Australia". Plant Disease. 82 (4): 356–367. doi:10.1094/PDIS.1998.82.4.356. PMID 30856881.
  5. ^ Stoll, A. (October 1932). "Ergot and ergotism". The Science of Nature. 20 (41): 752–757. Bibcode:1932NW.....20..752S. doi:10.1007/BF01493390. S2CID 29050640.
  6. ^ Pazoutova, Sylvie. "Intraspecific variability of C. purpurea". Archived from the original on 2006-03-10.[self-published source?]