Graduate Research and Discovery Symposium (GRADS)

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

4-1-2019

Abstract

A smut fungus that hinders wiregrass restoration efforts in longleaf pine-grassland ecosystems is being investigated in North and South Carolina and Florida. These ecosystems are unique to the southeastern USA; they are characterized by an open canopy of primarily longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and a dense ground layer of herbaceous species. Wiregrasses, Aristida stricta and A. beyrichiana, are perennial bunchgrasses and the dominant grass found in longleaf pine forests. Once the predominant forest type in the southeast, longleaf pine forests have been reduced to a fraction of area they once covered due to land use changes and fire suppression. Seeds of Aristida species are required for regeneration efforts, but seed production has been affected adversely by a smut fungus. Smut fungi can be damaging pathogens of grasses and typically infect inflorescences of host plants, replacing the seeds with teliospores. Our objectives are to identify the smut species from A. beyrichiana and A. stricta, and to investigate the disease cycles. Based on microscopic examinations and comparisons of DNA sequences of the ITS and LSU regions, it is a previously undescribed species of Langdonia, which is a monophyletic genus found on Aristida species. Investigations are underway to study infection and colonization of the host by this smut pathogen. Understanding this host-pathogen system will help management efforts to increase the availability of Aristida spp. seeds.

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