Cronartium
Encyclopedia
Cronartium is a genus
of rust fungi
in the family Cronartiaceae
.
They are heteroecious
rusts with two alternating hosts, typically a pine
and a flowering plant
, and up to five spore stages. Many of the species are plant disease
s of major economic importance, causing significant damage.
Species, hosts and natural distribution
Some of the species have been introduced accidentally outside of their natural ranges, notably C. ribicola into North America, where it is an invasive species
causing heavy mortality in several pines which have little or no resistance to it.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of rust fungi
Rust (fungus)
Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales. About 7800 species are known. Rusts can affect a variety of plants; leaves, stems, fruits and seeds. Rust is most commonly seen as coloured powder, composed off tiny aeciospores which land on vegetation producing...
in the family Cronartiaceae
Cronartiaceae
Cronartiaceae are a family of rust fungi in the order Uredinales.They are heteroecious rusts with two alternating hosts, typically a pine and a flowering plant, and up to five spore stages. Many of the species are plant diseases of major economic importance, causing significant damage and heavy...
.
They are heteroecious
Heteroecious
A heteroecious parasite is one that requires at least two hosts. The primary host is the host in which the parasite spends its adult life; the other is the secondary host. Both the primary host and an unrelated alternate host are required for the parasite to complete its life cycle...
rusts with two alternating hosts, typically a pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
and a flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
, and up to five spore stages. Many of the species are plant disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
s of major economic importance, causing significant damage.
Species, hosts and natural distribution
- Cronartium appalachianum: Pinus virginianaVirginia PinePinus virginiana is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, but can grow taller under optimum conditions. The trunk can be...
, SantalaceaeSantalaceaeSantalaceae is a widely distributed family of flowering plants which, like other members of Santalales, are partially parasitic on other plants...
. Eastern North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. - Cronartium arizonicum: Pinus ponderosaPonderosa PinePinus 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...
and related pines, ScrophulariaceaeScrophulariaceaeScrophulariaceae, the figwort family, are a family of flowering plants. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with flowers with bilateral or rarely radial symmetry. Members of the Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including...
. Western North America. - Cronartium comandrae: Pinus subgenus PinusPinus classificationThere are three main subgenera of Pinus, the subgenus Strobus , the subgenus Ducampopinus , and the subgenus Pinus...
, Santalaceae. North America. - Cronartium comptoniae: Pinus subgenus Pinus, MyricaceaeMyricaceaeThe Myricaceae is a small family of dicotyledonous shrubs and small trees in the order Fagales. There are three genera in the family, although some botanists separate many species from Myrica into a fourth genus Morella...
. North America. - Cronartium conigenum: Pinus subgenus Pinus, FagaceaeFagaceaeThe family Fagaceae, or beech family, comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like nuts. Fagaceous leaves are often...
. Southwestern North America. - Cronartium flaccidum: Pinus subgenus Pinus, several families. EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. - Cronartium occidentale: Pinus subgenus DucampopinusPinus classificationThere are three main subgenera of Pinus, the subgenus Strobus , the subgenus Ducampopinus , and the subgenus Pinus...
, SaxifragaceaeSaxifragaceaeSaxifragaceae is a plant family with about 460 known species in 36 genera. In Europe there are 12 genera.The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic...
. Southwestern North America. - Cronartium quercuum: Pinus subgenus Pinus, FagaceaeFagaceaeThe family Fagaceae, or beech family, comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like nuts. Fagaceous leaves are often...
. North America, Asia. - Cronartium ribicolaCronartium ribicolaCronartium ribicola is a species of rust fungi in the family Cronartiaceae that causes the disease white pine blister rust.Like many other rusts, C. ribicola is heteroecious, meaning it requires two host species to complete its lifecycle that includes five spore stages...
: Pinus subgenus StrobusPinus classificationThere are three main subgenera of Pinus, the subgenus Strobus , the subgenus Ducampopinus , and the subgenus Pinus...
, GrossulariaceaeRibesRibes is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants native throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae. Seven subgenera are recognized....
. Europe, Asia. - Cronartium stalactiforme: Pinus subgenus Pinus, Scrophulariaceae. North America.
- Cronartium strobilinum: Pinus subgenus Pinus, Fagaceae. Southeastern North America.
Some of the species have been introduced accidentally outside of their natural ranges, notably C. ribicola into North America, where it is an invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
causing heavy mortality in several pines which have little or no resistance to it.