Fungi of Australia: The Smut Fungi
Fungi of Australia Series
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276 pages, 250 x 176 mm |
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Description | Features | Contents | Reviews | Related Titles
Description
The smut fungi (Ustilaginomycetes and some Urediniomycetes) are parasites mainly of flowering plants. In Australia, these fungi include 296 species in 43 genera. The conspicuous stage is the sorus, which is often confined to the ovary or inflorescence, but may also be found in the anthers, fruits, leaves, stems and roots. Responsible for devastating crop losses in the past, their importance for Australian agriculture has been reduced since the introduction of fungicidal seed treatments and the development of disease resistant varieties. However, some smuts remain serious pathogens of cereal crops elsewhere in the world, thus highlighting the importance of accurate identification and the need for a reliable understanding of the taxonomy of the entire group, including endemic and established species.
This volume of the Fungi of Australia, the first overview of the Australian smut fungi in almost 100 years, includes identification keys to genera and species, full synonymy, descriptions and comprehensive lists of specimens. The accompanying CD, incorporating a Lucid™ Player, provides an easy-to-use, interactive key to smut species, with comprehensive fact-sheets, distribution maps and over 1000 images.
- The first authoritative interactive identification guide to a significant group of Australian plant-pathogenic fungi
- Detailed descriptions, full synonymy and distribution maps for almost 300 species
- More than 1000 high-quality illustrations of macroscopic and microscopic features of the fungi, as well as disease symptoms in the hosts.
Contents
Authors
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Systematic Arrangement
Key to the Genera of Smut Fungi in Australia
The Smut Fungi
Doubtful and Excluded Names
Appendix: Flowering Plants and Associated Smut Fungi in Australia
Appendix: Lectotypifications
Appendix: Tilletia australiensis, sp. nov.
Bibliography
Abbreviations and Contractions
Publication dates of previous volumes
Index of Fungi
Index of Hosts
Reviews
I would recommend that every mycologist interested in smuts obtain this book. It is carefully written and very pleasing. The book is also provided with a thorough literature list and a good index. The book should be available in all college, university, research laboratories and institutional libraries where there are courses and research in agriculture or mycology.
Kevin Hyde, Inoculum, August 2009
"Virtually all information known about the smut species (here defined as plant parasitic basidiomycetes with teliospores) in Australia is compiled in a very condensed, but clear structure. This book is indispensible for all scholars and students of plant pathology, especially in Australia, and mycology and biological diversity worldwide. The text has been written and proof-read amazingly thoroughly."
R. Kirschner, Nove Headwiga, 2008
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