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Mycologia, ASCOMYCOTINA, CLAVICIPITALES, CLAVICIPITACEAE .

Crops attacked: rye, .

Ergot

Identification, Description, Biology, Epidemiology, Treatement, Possible misleading, Images

[R]Description
Elongated black banana-shaped outgrowth (sclerotia) protruding from the glume, visible in autumn and reaching up to 2 cm.
Affects seed production.
Ergot contains alkaloids and may present a hazard to cattle grazing infected grasses.

[R]Biology
Sclerotia overwinter on the soil.
Sclerotial germination occurs in spring and produces perithecia.
Ascospore dispersal coincides with the flowering of grasses.
The ovaries are contaminated and form a mycelial stroma which spills out as conidia-bearing honeydew responsible for the contamination of the late-flowering grasses.

[R]Epidemiology
It takes six weeks at 5 °C. for sclerotia to germinate as perithecia of 1 - 1.5 mm in size.
Wind and rain-borne conidia.

[R]Treatement
Use healthy seeds.
Plough the contaminated land, bury sclerotia deep in the soil (>7 cm) to prevent their development.

[R]Possible misleading
.

[R] Images

1. Claviceps purpurea , Ergot (BASF)
   Cereal ergot Purple-black, horn-like ergots (sclerotium) replacing seeds in infected heads of rye.
   
2. Claviceps purpurea , Ergot (VEGH I., INRA)
   Cereal ergot The germination of perithecia (carpophores) from the sclerotium of cereal ergot.
   

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