1. PaDIL Species Factsheet

Scientific Name: Cintractia axicola (Berk.) Cornu , , , Cintractiaceae

Common Name Fimbristylis Smut Live link: http://www.padil.gov.au/aus-smuts/Pest/Main/139916

Image Library Smut Fungi of Australia Live link: http://www.padil.gov.au/aus-smuts/

Partners for Smut Fungi of Australia image library

Queensland Government https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/ 2. Species Information

2.1. Details Specimen Contact: Roger Shivas - [email protected] Author: Roger Shivas Citation: Roger Shivas (2010) Fimbristylis Smut(Cintractia axicola )Updated on 11/16/2010 Available online: PaDIL - http://www.padil.gov.au Image Use: Free for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY- NC 4.0)

2.2. URL Live link: http://www.padil.gov.au/aus-smuts/Pest/Main/139916

2.3. Facets Columella: absent Distribution: NSW, NT, QLD, WA Peridium: present Sorus position: inflorescence Sorus shape: globose to short cylindrical Spore balls: absent Spore mass texture: agglutinated Spore shape: globose or subglobose, ovoid to ellipsoidal, polyhedral or subpolyhedral Spore surface ornamentation: smooth Status: Native Australian Species Sterile cells: absent Host Family: Cyperaceae

2.4. Other Names Anthracoidea suedae (Sawada ex S. Ito) Vánky Cintractia fimbristylis-kagiensis Sawada ex S. Ito Cintractia fimbristylis-kagiensis var. fukienensis Y. Ling & T.L. Chen Cintractia mundkurii S. Chowdhury Cintractia peribebuyensis (Speg.) Sawada Cintractia peribebuyensis (Speg.) Speg. Cintractia peribebuyensis var. major Pavgi & Mundk. Cintractia pilulifera Y. Ling & T.L. Chen Cintractia suedae Sawada ex S. Ito Ustilago axicola Berk. Ustilago fimbristylis Thüm. Ustilago peribebuyensis Speg.

2.5. Diagnostic Notes **Sori** surrounding the base of the floral pedicels, occasionally the flowers, subglobose to ovoid, 1–5 mm long, 1–2 mm wide, at first covered by a white-greyish (later brown) sterile fungal peridium that flakes away to expose the black agglutinated spore mass developed in pockets of a hyaline stroma.

**Spores** solitary, globose, ovoid to subpolyangular, usually compressed laterally, 12–18 × 8–15 µm, reddish brown; wall c. 1 µm thick, thinner and paler on the flattened sides, in LM smooth to indistinctly pitted, or faintly ornamented with short fine sinuous striae, in SEM very finely and densely verruculose, the warts partly confluent, forming short irregular sometimes ramified striae.

**Spore germination** resulting in 4-celled basidia; basidial cells uninucleate, with haploid basidiospores budding from basidial cells; basidiospores fusing in pairs initiating the dikaryophase. Two of the basidial cells sometimes fusing to form dikaryotic hypha. Infection localised. Dikaryotic hyphae penetrating the epidermal cells of the host, spreading inter- and intracellularly and invading the epidermis, cortex, medulla, phloem and the lignified cells of the infected peduncle. White fungal sheath formed of mononucleate cells developing around the peduncle 7–10 days after infection. Under this sheath, the binucleate mycelium differentiating into stromatal tissue and sporogenous pockets. Cells of dikaryotic hyphae in the inner part of sporogenous pockets dividing, giving rise to rows of spore initials that mature successively. 3. Diagnostic Images

Cintractia axicola on Fimbristylis dichotoma - Cintractia axicola on Fimbristylis dichotoma - BRIP 43702. Scale bar = 5 mm . BRIP 49158. Scale bar = 10 µm. Host symptoms: Roger Shivas DEEDI Light micrograph: Roger Shivas DEEDI

Results Generated: Wednesday, September 29, 2021