Balansia epiphyte (Japanese Fungi on Plants)

Japanese Fungi on Plants No.6 before next top

Balansia epiphyte [Balansia spp. =Ephelis japonica Henn.]
Classification: Ascomycota, Pyrenomycetes, Hypocreales, Clavicipitaceae

Distributed south from Kanto, the central part of Japan and parasitizes many warm season grasses (C4 plants), such as knotgrass, bermudagrass and lovegrass. Causes black choke disease on all plant species infected and producing white hyphal streak on the leaves, but the plant vigor is not so affected. The infected plants are conferred with insect resistance and tolerance to environmental stresses, but not so effective compared with Neotyphodium endophyte. Not seed-transmitted.

Characteristics: Epiphyte, Plant pathogen Symptom: JPEG (Knotgrass, Black choke, 35kb)

				Morphology: Teleomorph: The genus, Balansia. The head of infected grasses is covered by dense white to gray hyphal mat and round stromata rise from pseudo-sclerotia produced on the mat. Ellipsoidal ascocarp embedded in the surface of stromata, producing cylindrical asci inside. Ascospores hyaline, needle-shaped, about 20 x 1 um. Anamorph: On conidiophores from hyphal strands, producing many conidia hyaline, single-celled, needle-shaped, about 15-20 x 1 um.
Conidia (nuclear stained)	Hyphal strands and conidia on the leaf suface	Colony

Herbarium specimen in NIAES

Specimen No.	Scientific name	Host name	Host scientific name	Symptoms	Geographical origin	Collected date	Collector
135-1-33	Ephelis japonica	Knotgrass	Paspalum thunbergii	Black choke	Nishinasuno, Tochigi	1995.5	Tsukiboshi, T.
135-1-34	"	Paragrass	Brachiaria mutica	"	Ishigaki, Okinawa	1998.3	"

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