Violaceomyces palustris gen. et sp. nov. and a new monotypic lineage, Violaceomycetales ord. nov. in Ustilaginomycetes.

Numerous strains of a novel yeast were isolated in Louisiana, USA, from the leaves of several palustrine plants, most frequently from the invasive aquatic ferns Salvinia minima and S. molesta. This fungus produced fast-growing colonies that were grayish violet to dark blue in culture and rapidly reproduced via production of copious ballistoconidia that germinated to form pseudohyphae.

Draft Genome Sequence of a Rare Smut Relative, Tilletiaria anomala UBC 951.

The draft genome sequence of the smut fungus Tilletiaria anomala UBC 951 (Basidiomycota, Ustilaginomycotina) is presented. The sequenced genome size is 18.7 Mb, consisting of 289 scaffolds and a total of 6,810 predicted genes.

Genome sequencing provides insight into the reproductive biology, nutritional mode and ploidy of the fern pathogen Mixia osmundae.

Mixia osmundae (Basidiomycota, Pucciniomycotina) represents a monotypic class containing an unusual fern pathogen with incompletely understood biology. We sequenced and analyzed the genome of M. osmundae, focusing on genes that may provide some insight into its mode of pathogenicity and reproductive biology.

Meredithblackwellia eburnea gen. et sp. nov., Kriegeriaceae fam. nov. and Kriegeriales ord. nov.--toward resolving higher-level classification in Microbotryomycetes.

A field survey of ballistosporic yeasts in a Neotropical forest yielded a new species isolated from a fern leaf. The isolate is a cream-colored butyrous yeast that reproduces by budding. Budding occurs at both the apical and basal cell poles; occasionally multiple budding events co-occur, giving rise to rosette-like clusters of cells at both poles of the yeast mother cell.

Leaf rust induced volatile organic compounds signalling in willow during the infection.

Plants are known to emit volatile organic compounds (VOC) in response to various biotic or abiotic stresses. Although the VOC emission in the case of insect attacks is well described, there is only little known about the impact of pathogens on plant emission. In the present study, we used a willow-leaf rust system to describe the effects of a biotrophic fungal infection on the VOC emission pattern of willow leaves.