Aphanocladiutn album, a fungus inducing teliospore production in rusts

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Abstract
SUMMARY: The hyphomycetous fungus Aphanocladiutn album can grow over and around uredia of the rusts Puccinia coronata, P. hordei, P. graminis f.sp. avenae and P. recondita f.sp. triticina when host plants are kept under very humid conditions, but not on such plants not infected with rusts; uredia are adversely affected and telia develop in their vicinity.Plants inoculated with these rusts and with five isolates of A. album (one from a dead insect) showed: (1) much earlier development of telia on detached and non‐detached rusted leaves inoculated with A. album than on corresponding leaves not thus inoculated; (2) telial induction by A. album in some isolates of rust species which hitherto had rarely or never produced telia; (3) precocious telial formation, in comparison with controls, when A. album spores were sprayed on leaves as much as 3 days before and 9 days after rust inoculation, and occasionally after uredia had already matured. As affected leaves remained green until the whole leaf became moribund, senescence is apparently not the factor inducing telia formation.The normal‐appearing teliospores of some isolates were induced to germinate, whereas others did not. Rhamnus palaestina inoculated with basidiospores of one isolate of A. album‐treated P. coronata f.sp. avenae produced pycnia and fertile aecia.The importance of A. album as a working tool in rust research and as a possible means for biological control of rust epiphytotics is discussed.

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