Blue stain fungus
Encyclopedia
The blue stain fungus, Grosmannia clavigera, is a species of sac fungus
. It spreads to Lodgepole pine
, Ponderosa pine
, Douglas-fir
, and Whitebark pine
trees from the body and a special structure in the heads of Mountain Pine Beetles
. The blue stain fungus has evolved a relationship with mountain pine beetles that allow them to travel from tree to tree on a special structure in the beetle’s heads and stops the tree from producing resin to pitch out or kill the beetle, encouraging the pine beetle infestation occurring all along the Rocky Mountains
from Mexico up into Canada. The beetles are able to mine and lay eggs while avoiding the tree’s defenses. The 33 Mb genome of this fungus was sequenced in 2009.
The blue stain fungus spores germinate and produce a thread like mass (mycelium
) that colonizes the phloem
and sapwood. Fungal spores are usually blown away by wind but blue-stain spores are “sticky”. This process eventually blocks the nutrient conducting columns of the tree draining the trees of their nutrients eventually causing the tree to starve to death. The symptoms and signs of blue stain fungus are a blue-gray discoloration of sapwood in wedge shapes of recently killed trees.
Preventing the blue stain would require that unfavorable conditions for the fungus be maintained such as: keeping the wood dry, protecting the wood from mountain pine beetles, and maintaining temperatures above or below ideal growing temperatures. The spread of blue stain fungus can only be controlled by protecting the trees from the mountain pine beetle. There are various methods of preventing the spread of the pine beetle but they are highly ineffective and typically very costly.
Ascomycota
The Ascomycota are a Division/Phylum of the kingdom Fungi, and subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the Sac fungi. They are the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species...
. It spreads to Lodgepole pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
, Ponderosa pine
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
, Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
, and Whitebark pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
trees from the body and a special structure in the heads of Mountain Pine Beetles
Mountain pine beetle
The mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae, is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia. It has a hard black exoskeleton, and measures about 5 millimeters, about the size of a grain of rice.Mountain pine beetles inhabit...
. The blue stain fungus has evolved a relationship with mountain pine beetles that allow them to travel from tree to tree on a special structure in the beetle’s heads and stops the tree from producing resin to pitch out or kill the beetle, encouraging the pine beetle infestation occurring all along the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
from Mexico up into Canada. The beetles are able to mine and lay eggs while avoiding the tree’s defenses. The 33 Mb genome of this fungus was sequenced in 2009.
The blue stain fungus spores germinate and produce a thread like mass (mycelium
Mycelium
thumb|right|Fungal myceliaMycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the fairy ring fungi. Fungal colonies composed of mycelia are found in soil and on or within many other...
) that colonizes the phloem
Phloem
In vascular plants, phloem is the living tissue that carries organic nutrients , in particular, glucose, a sugar, to all parts of the plant where needed. In trees, the phloem is the innermost layer of the bark, hence the name, derived from the Greek word "bark"...
and sapwood. Fungal spores are usually blown away by wind but blue-stain spores are “sticky”. This process eventually blocks the nutrient conducting columns of the tree draining the trees of their nutrients eventually causing the tree to starve to death. The symptoms and signs of blue stain fungus are a blue-gray discoloration of sapwood in wedge shapes of recently killed trees.
Preventing the blue stain would require that unfavorable conditions for the fungus be maintained such as: keeping the wood dry, protecting the wood from mountain pine beetles, and maintaining temperatures above or below ideal growing temperatures. The spread of blue stain fungus can only be controlled by protecting the trees from the mountain pine beetle. There are various methods of preventing the spread of the pine beetle but they are highly ineffective and typically very costly.