Waitea_circinata

<i>Waitea circinata</i>

Waitea circinata

Species of fungus

Waitea circinata is a species of fungus in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are corticioid, thin, effused, and web-like, but the fungus is more frequently encountered in its similar but sterile anamorphic state. Waitea circinata is best known as a plant pathogen, causing commercially significant damage (brown ring patch) to amenity turf grass.

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Taxonomy

Waitea circinata was originally described from Australia in 1962, where it was found growing on the undersides of clods of earth in a wheat field. The new genus Waitea, named after the Waite Agricultural Research Institute in Adelaide, was created to accommodate the species.[1] Because of its morphological similarity to species of Rhizoctonia, Waitea circinata was presumed to belong within the Ceratobasidiaceae, but phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences has shown that it actually belongs in the Corticiaceae and is close to species of Laetisaria (which are also grass pathogens).[2]

Molecular research has also shown that Waitea circinata is part of a complex of at least four genetically distinct taxa, each causing visibly different diseases.[3] These taxa were initially treated as varieties of W. circinata, but have now been described as separate species.[4] Older references to W. circinata may refer to any or all of these species.

Description

Basidiocarps are effused, thin, web-like, smooth, white to pale ochre. Hyphae are multinucleate, colourless, often irregular, 2.5-11 μm wide, without clamp connections. Basidia are often constricted about the middle, with four short sterigmata. Basidiospores are smooth, oblong to cylindrical, 8-12 by 3.5-5 μm, colourless to pale ochre. Sclerotia are pinkish orange to brown, 0.5–3 mm wide.[5]

Habitat and distribution

The species appears to be a soil saprotroph, principally associated with grasses, possibly always as a pathogen. Though first described from Australia, it has a cosmopolitan distribution and has been recorded from Europe,[6] North America,[7] Asia,[8] and New Zealand.[9]

Economic importance

Waitea circinata is the causal agent of brown ring patch (also called Waitea patch) of amenity turf grasses.[3][9]

References

  1. [1]
    Warcup JH, Talbot PH (1962). "Ecology and identity of mycelia isolated from soil". Transactions of the British Mycological Society. 45 (4): 495–518. doi:10.1016/S0007-1536(62)80010-2.
  2. [2]
    Lawrey JD, Diederich P, Sikaroodi M, Gillevet GM (2008). "Remarkable nutritional diversity of basidiomycetes in the Corticiales". American Journal of Botany. 95 (7): 816–823. doi:10.3732/ajb.0800078. PMID 21632407.
  3. [3]
    Toda T, Mushika T, Hayakawa T, Tanaka A, Tani T, Hayakumachi M (2005). "Brown Ring Patch: A new disease on bentgrass caused by Waitea circinata var. circinata". Plant Disease. 89 (6): 536–542. doi:10.1094/PD-89-0536. PMID 30795375. http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PD-89-0536
  4. [4]
    Stalpers JA, Redhead SA, May TW, et al. (2021). "Competing sexual-asexual generic names in Agaricomycotina (Basidiomycota) with recommendations for use". IMA Fungus. 12 (22): 3. doi:10.1186/s43008-021-00061-3. PMC 8359032. PMID 34380577.
  5. [5]
    Roberts P. (1999). Rhizoctonia-forming fungi. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens. pp. 104–105. ISBN 1-900347-69-5.
  6. [6]
    de Barrada DG, de Luca V, Ramón-Albalat A, Leon M, Armengol J (2019). "First report of Dollar Spot caused by Clarireedia jacksonii and Brown Ring Patch caused by Waitea circinata var. circinata on Agrostis stolonifera in Spain". Plant Disease. 103 (7): 1771. doi:10.1094/PDIS-10-18-1816-PDN. S2CID 91284546.
  7. [7]
    de la Cerda, Karla A.; Douhan, Greg W.; Wong, Francis P. (July 2007). "Discovery and Characterization of Waitea circinata var. circinata Affecting Annual Bluegrass from the Western United States". Plant Disease. 91 (7): 791–797. doi:10.1094/PDIS-91-7-0791. PMID 30780386.
  8. [8]
    Ni, X. X.; Li, B. T.; Cai, M.; Liu, X. L. (December 2012). "First Report of Brown Ring Patch Caused by Waitea circinata var. circinata on Agrostis stolonifera and Poa pratensis in China". Plant Disease. 96 (12): 1821. doi:10.1094/PDIS-04-12-0406-PDN. PMID 30727275.
  9. [9]
    Cushnahan MZ, Hannan B (2010). "Waitea Patch (Waitea circinata var. circinata) in New Zealand golf greens". NZ Turf Management Journal. 25 (2): 8-9.
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