Smuts

Natural Habitat

• Pathogens of cereals crops, corn, grasses, onion, and sorghum

Suitable Substrates in the Indoor Environment

• Unknown- smut fungi require a living plant host for growth

Mode of Dissemination

• Wind
• Rain
• Shoes

• Mowers

Allergenic Potential

Type I. (hay fever, asthma)

Potential Opportunist or Pathogen

• Unknown

Industrial Uses

• Galls of Ustilago maydis are considered a delicacy and are known in Mexico as "Huitlacoche" and in the U.S.A. as "maize mushroom", "Mexican truffles" or "caviar azteca"

Potential Toxins Produced

• Unknown

Other Comments

• Smut fungi belong to the order Ustilaginales and there are about 4000 known species