Distribution
Ubiquitous;
cosmopolitan.
Two families, 50 genera, and 950 species.
Where Found
On cereal crops, grasses, weeds, other fungi, and on other flowering plants.
Mode of Dissemination
Wind disperses the powdery brown teliospores of smut.
Growth Indoors
Smuts do not usually grow indoors. They are parasitic plant pathogens that require a living host for the completion of their life cycle.
Industrial Uses
Not known.
Other Comments
Smuts are members of the Basidiomycetes and have two spore types: teliospores (dry, powdery stage) and basidiospores (yeast stage).
Allergens
Type I allergies (hay fever, asthma).
Potential Opportunist or Pathogen
No reports of human infection by the plant parasitic forms.
Potential Toxin Production
Not known.
Growth/Culture Characteristics
The airborne phase (teliospores) of smut requires a living host for growth and will not develop on laboratory media. The yeast phase (basidiospores) is saprophytic and will grow on general fungal media.
Spore Trap Recognition
Smut teliospores cannot easily be distinguished from the myxomycetes and certain species of Periconia. They are reported in the "round, brown" spore category: "Smuts, Periconia, myxomycetes."
Tape Lift Recognition
The teliospores of smuts are somewhat distinctive en masse. They are found in dust as part of the normal influx of outdoor particles.