Long smut

(Sporisorium ehrenbergii Vánky)

Symptoms

• Long smut appears as elongated, cylindrical, slightly curved sori, longer than normal grain.
• The sori have a whitish thin membrane that ruptures to release black powdery mass of spore balls that can be easily blown by the wind.
• The long smut sori are much longer (2-4 cm) than those of covered kernel smut, and these are unevenly distributed on the panicle unlike the covered kernel smut sori.
• Each sorus contains 8-10 longitudinal filaments (remnants of the vascular elements of ovary) and teliospores are held between the filaments and the membrane wall.

Fig. 1: Fungal sori longer than grain

Control measures

• Avoid seed from endemic fields for planting
• Grow resistant cultivars.