MICROBOTRYUM
the evolutionary ecology of
disease and genetic systems
Introduction:
This is a
portal to information on fungal pathogens in the genus, Microbotryum. These organisms and their
interactions with plants in the carnation family (the Caryophyllaceae) are
important research tools for many fields of biology, including genomics,
host-pathogen interactions, and evolutionary ecology. A broad international
community is working to advance this system, in terms of research
discoveries, education, and training of future scientists. |
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Protocols
& Resources: under construction (2016) Microbotryum Tetrad Collection Field Protocols
Collecting Microbotryum Samples
Mapping Local Populations
Refinding Marked Individuals
Experimental Populations Lab Protocols: Organismal
Inoculating Plants
Mating Type Bias Assay
Greenhouse Soil Mix Storage of Cultures
Meiotic Tetrad Isolation
Testing Mating Types Lab Protocols: Molecular Isolation of DNA Electrophoretic
Karyotypes |
History: Carl Linnaeus, in his Hortus
Cliffortianus (1738), mistook a specimen of the
plant Silene latifolia with anther-smut disease as representing a new
species, with flowers fully covered in black powder. In 1760, the rather
advanced work of Jean Baptiste Aymen ("Recherches sur les progres et
la cause de la nielle" Memoires de mathem. et de phys. 3:68-85) displayed a surprising
knowledge of anther-smut. Perhaps through Aymen’s
correspondence with Linneaus, the infected Silene
latifolia specimen was reassigned by the time of Systema
Naturae 12th edn.
in 1767. In some important areas, there remained
confusion as to the nature of Microbotryum. In 1821, the foundational
work of Elias Fries (Systema Mycologicum, vol. 1, pp xxv-xxvi) debated the source
of dark powdery anthers, saying they simply contained inviable pollen and
that any associated fungus was of heterogenic origin. However, Anton de Bary, in 1853 (Unterauchungen
uber die Brandpilze und
die durch sie verursachten Krankheiten der Pflanzen. Berlin) used Microbotryum as one of
his examples demonstrating that fungal parasites are the causes of disease
rather than symptoms. By the late 1800’s, the curious
effects of anther-smut disease upon sex expression in plants was well know. Microbotryum
replaces the pollen in anthers with fungal spores, and even female plants
take on a male-like appearance with large anthers and aborted ovaries. This unusual development was noted by
the important suffragist (and scientist) Lydia E. Becker, who corresponded
several time with Charles Darwin before presenting a paper in 1869, "On
alteration in the structure of Lychnis diurna, observed in connexion
with the development of a parasitic fungus" (Report of the 39th meeting
of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, p. 106). Darwin added a note on the 1863 letter
from Becker, "The purple anthers a fungus—". What came to be known as "parasitic
castration" by Microbotryum was studied in Ant. Magnin’s 1888 "Sur l'hermaphrodisme
parasitaire et le polymorphisme
floral du Lychnis dioica"
(Comptes rendus
107: 663-665), as well as by many others who used anther-smut as a model to
manipulate plant sexual dimorphism. With the rediscovery of Mendel’s Laws
in the early 1900’s, mycology became more directed toward genetic
studies, and again, Microbotryum was used to make significant
contributions. As part of Hans Kniep’s
earliest work on sexual compatibility (1919, Untersuchungen
uber den Antherenbrand (Ustilago
violacea Pers.). Ein Beitrag
zum sexualitatproblem. Z.
Bot. 11:257-284), Microbotryum was used to demonstrate bipolar
mating types. Most recently, the first dimorphic sex chromosomes to be
discovered in fungi were found in Microbotryum, and this system is
continuing to provide intresting insights into the
evolution of sexual systems. In several other areas, anther-smut disease is
being actively studies as an empirical model: molecular mechanisms (e.g. the
long-running "Genetics of Ustilago violacea" series); taxnomy (e.g. the latest in a long history of revisions
has moved Microbotryum between Orders of fungi!); ecological and
evolutionary disease dynamics (e.g. Microbotryum presents a tractable
and low-risk system for a great many experiments addressing disease in
natural populations). |
Created under supported
from NSF award 310042
(Link to M. E. Hood homepage - Amherst College)