Claviceps africana (Japanese Fungi on Plants)

Japanese Fungi on Plants No.17 before next top

Claviceps africana Frederickson, Mantle & De Milliano
Classification: Ascomycota, Pyrenomycetes, Hypocreales, Clavicipitaceae

Representative sorghum ergot in the world. It invaded Japan in 1980's and is distributed south from Kanto, the central part of Japan. Causes ergot disease on Sorghum plants mainly producing honeydew on the panicles. Disperses by scattering secondary conidia produced on the surface of honeydew. Ergots (sclerotia) are produced in the panicles but difficult to germinate to produce stromata.

Characteristics: Plant pathogen Symptom: JPEG (Sorghum, Ergot, Sugary disease, 29kb)

			Morphology: Teleomorph: Producing stromata with a purple stipe and dark purple capitula, 8-15 mm in height from reddish brown ergot (sclerotia). Ascocarps embedded on the surface of capitula, pyriform, producing cylindrical asci inside. Ascospores hyaline, filiform, -45 x 0.8-1.2 um. Anamorph: Macro conidia produced on the surface of sclerotia and in the honeydew, hyaline, oblong to oval, 9-17 x 5-8 um. Microconidia spherical, 2-3 um in diam. Secondary conidia rather constricted at the basal end, produced on the surface of the honeydew.
Macroconidia and microconidia	Secondary conidia on the surface of honeydew

Herbarium specimen in NIAES

Specimen No.	Scientific name	Host name	Host scientific name	Symptoms	Geographical origin	Collected date	Collector
135-1-25	Claviceps africana	Sorghum	Sorghum bicolor	Ergot	Miyakonojo, Miyazaki	1988.11	Shimanuki, T.
135-1-26	"	"	"	"	Kushima, Kagoshima	"	"

(Described by Tsukiboshi, T., NIAES, Microbial Systemtics Lab., 2002)