Mary Catherine Aime

Purdue University West Lafayette | Purdue · Department of Botany and Plant Pathology

Fungi are arguably the most diverse eukaryotic kingdom of organisms in terms of number of estimated species, trophic and life history strategies, and their functions in ecosystems. However, our knowledge of fungi is limited due to a distributional bias; the vast majority of available data on fungi have been compiled from non-tropical regions. Far l...

Much of our previous work documenting fungal biodiversity in Guyana has been centered in forests of Dicymbe corymbosa Spruce ex Benth., which forms monodominant stands in the white sands region of Guyana. In order to begin to assess fungal biodiversity associated with other ectomycorrhizal host trees found in Guyana, expeditions were conducted to a...

The present study investigates the species boundaries, evolutionary relationships, and host-parasite interfaces of dimorphic mycoparasites that were previously assigned to Achroomyces soranus, Occultifur internus, and Platygloea mycophila based on morphological similarities. Our comparison of recently collected and cultivated samples with the type...

Researchers employ high-throughput sequencing technologies to characterize mycobiome community composition and structure. However, the short sequences generated by these technologies can be limiting and may result in an inability to identify species at lower ranks, and to exclude taxa due to primer bias. Consequently, we introduce a novel protocol...

Trifolium repens, commonly known as white clover, is an herbaceous perennial plant within Fabaceae that is a pasture legume in temperate regions. In September 2023, a rust was observed on T. repens in Iceland. Morphological characteristics and sequencing analysis identified the rust species as Uromyces trifolii-repentis. To our knowledge, this is t...

Rust fungi (Pucciniales) are plant pathogens that can cause devastating yield losses to economically important crops and threaten native plants with extinction. Rusts are usually controlled with fungicides when rust-resistant plant varieties are unavailable. However, natural enemies may offer an alternative to chemicals by acting as biological cont...

Chlorosplenium is a small genus comprising five species of inoperculate discomycetes in the order Helotiales (Leotiomycetes) often recognizable by their bright yellowish-green colors and gregarious growth on wood. In this study, we describe five new species-C. aotearoa, C. australiense, C. cusucoense, C. epimorsicum, and C. hawaiiense-based on a co...

Scorzoneroides autumnalis, commonly known as fall dandelion or autumn hawkbit, is a perennial plant with branched stems and several flower-heads with bright yellow florets. In September 2023, rust disease was observed on 25% of plants present in two areas of Iceland showing reddish-yellow spots on the older leaves of the basal rosette. Morphologica...

Species of the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) family Cortinariaceae (Agaricales, Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota) have long been considered impoverished or absent from lowland tropical rainforests. Several decades of collecting in forests dominated by ECM trees in South America's Guiana Shield is countering this view, with discovery of numerous Cortinariaceae...

Sphaerellopsis species are putative hyperparasites of rust fungi and may be promising biological control agents (BCA) of rust diseases. However, few detailed studies limit potential BCA development in Sphaerellopsis . Here, we explored the biogeography, host-specificity, and species diversity of Sphaerellopsis and examined the early infection stage...

Sorbus is a genus of trees and shrubs in the Rosaceae commonly known as rowan and mountain-ash. They are usually found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and cultivated as ornamental trees for parks and gardens. In September 2023, infection by a rust was observed on a single Sorbus aucuparia tree in Sólbrekkuskógur, Reykjanesbær (64.04...

South Africa has an indigenous rust (Pucciniales) funga of approximately 460 species. This funga was sampled with species from as many genera as possible. The nuclear ribosomal large subunit (28S) region was amplified from samples representing 110 indigenous species, as well as the small subunit (18S) region and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 (...

Multicopy nuclear ribosomal (rDNA) genes have been used as markers for fungal identification for three decades. The rDNA sequences in a genome are thought to be homogeneous due to concerted evolution. However, intragenomic variation of rDNA sequences has recently been observed in many fungi, which cause problems in fungal identification and species...

The porcini mushroom family Boletaceae is a diverse, widespread group of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) mushroom-forming fungi that so far has eluded intrafamilial phylogenetic resolution based on morphology and multilocus data sets. In this study, we present a genome-wide molecular data set of 1764 single-copy gene families from a global sampling of 418 Bo...

Plant-parasitic nematodes are important pathogens of agricultural crops. Of particular importance are cyst nematode species of Globodera and Heterodera which remain a major constraint to global production of crops such as potato, soybean, and wheat. Recent restrictions on the use of some synthetic nematicides has created an urgent need for alternat...

The fungus Fusarium xyrophilum produces flower-like structures (i.e., pseudoflowers) that were recently discovered on yellow-eyed grasses ( Xyris spp.) in Guyana. It is unknown whether these pseudoflowers, which are composed entirely of fungal tissue, are true mimics that attract insects as a means of fungal dispersal. We evaluated the potential of...

As part of a long-term study aiming to isolate and identify yeast species that inhabit the surface of leaves and fruits of native fine-aroma cacao in the department of Amazonas, Peru, we obtained multiple isolates of Hannaella species. Yeasts of the genus Hannaella are common inhabitants of the phyllosphere of natural and crop plants. On the basis...

Rust fungi (Pucciniales, Basidiomycota) are a species-rich (ca. 8000 species), globally distributed order of obligate plant pathogens. Rust species are host-specific, and as a group they cause disease on many of our most economically and/or ecologically significant plants. As such, the ability to accurately and rapidly identify these fungi is of pa...

Moniliophthora perniciosa causes a destructive disease known as witches’ broom disease of cacao (WBDC). WBDC has been responsible for major reductions in production or even total abandonment of cacao plantations in most countries that it has invaded. To date, however, the disease is known only from the cacao-producing regions of South America, and...

Carnivorous plants capture, digest, and absorb prey via specialized structures such as bladders, pitchers, and other modified leaf traps. Studies have shown that not all carnivorous plants produce digestive enzymes; instead, some species rely on microbes living within their traps to produce the necessary enzymes required for prey digestion. Therefo...

We analyzed smut fungi (Ustilaginales) parasitizing nine poaceous hosts from three districts (Shangla, Mansehra, and Dir Upper) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Eight taxa were identified in two genera using both morphological and molecular techniques by amplifying ITS and LSU regions. We describe Ustilago pseudosyntherismae sp. nov. on Di...

Jewelweed (Impatiens spp., Balsaminaceae) is a common native annual plant within Pennsylvania wetland ecosystems, many of which are under threat from invasive non-native plants, and is an important wetland indicator plant (code FACW; facultative wetland). In May 2014, rust disease symptoms on native jewelweed (Impatiens capensis Meerb.) were observ...

Fungi are integral to well-functioning ecosystems, and their broader impact on Earth systems is widely acknowledged. Fossil evidence from the Rhynie Chert (Scotland, UK) shows that Fungi were already diverse in terrestrial ecosystems over 407-million-years-ago, yet evidence for the occurrence of Dikarya ( the subkingdom of Fungi that includes the p...

As an agroforestry resource willow species (Salix spp.) becoming increasingly important in the protection of riverbanks, recovery of floodable lands, soil bioremediation, biomass production, and wicker furniture manufacture, Babylon willow (Salix babylonica) is widely planted all over the world and is found throughout Iran as part of the rural land...

Coffee leaf rust (CLR), caused by Hemileia vastatrix Berk. & Broome (Zaghouaniaceae) is considered the most significant fungal disease of Coffea arabica L. (Rubiaceae), from which berries are harvested and processed to obtain coffee beverage (Talhinhas et al. 2017). In Florida, coffee plants are mainly used as ornamentals due to their fragrant flow...

In the late fall of 2018, foliar rust (referred to as ironwood/hophornbeam leaf rust [IHLR]) was discovered in several counties in Florida, United States, on ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana) and hophornbeam(Ostrya virginiana), bothmembers of the Betulaceae. Uredinia were observed on leaves and, in some cases, samaras of both species at numerous loca...

Limonium sinuatum (Plumbaginaceae) is the most commonly cultivated recognizable cut flower crop in the genus Limonium. It is known by several common names including statice and sea lavender, due to its lilac-colored flowers and the fact that it naturally inhabits mainly coastal areas (Mellesse et al, 2013). Limonium sinuatum is native to the Medite...

High-throughput sequencing approaches have become frequent in the study of endophyte communities allowing the cumulative description of fungal diversity in the last decade. However, they brought new challenges to researchers in terms of programming and developing of informatics tools. Currently, there is no consensus concerning the appropriate bioi...

While it is increasingly well understood how plants and animals spread around the world, and how they diversify and occupy new niches, such knowledge is fairly limited for fungi and oomycetes. As is true for animals and plants, many plant pathogenic fungi have been spread anthropogenically, but, in contrast to them, only rarely as a deliberate intr...

During travels in Western Ukraine two species of rust fungi (Pucciniales) were found on the wild plants of daisy (Bellis perennis L., Asteraceae). The first fungus, Puccinia lagenophorae was found in Lviv, the second, P. distincta was found in an old cemetery Kalwaria in Uzhgorod. Both of these represent first reports of these fungi in Ukraine.

In Iran, 17 species of the fungal genus Phragmidium are known causing rust on Roseaceae. Here, we analysed seven of them for the first time using ITS, LSU and partially CO3 sequence data. Among those species, Phr. iranicum, Phr. bulbosum, and Phr. aff. violaceum parasitize on Rubus, while Phr. rosae-lacerantis, Phr. tranzschelianum, Phr. tuberculat...

Fungi are among the most biodiverse organisms in the world. Accurate species identification is imperative for studies on fungal ecology and evolution. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA region has been widely accepted as the universal barcode for fungi. However, several recent studies have uncovered intragenomic sequence variation within th...

The recent description of the putative fungal pathogen of greenheart trees, Xylaria karyophthora (Xylariaceae, Ascomycota), prompted a study of its secondary metabolism to access its ability to produce cytochalasans in culture. Solid-state fermentation of the ex-type strain on rice medium resulted in the isolation of a series of 19,20-epoxidated cy...

Pennsylvania is the fourth largest Christmas-tree-producing state in the USA, with annual sales of more than $22 million. During the summers of 2018 and 2019, a rust disease was observed on the leaves of balsam fir, Canaan fir, white fir, and sensitive fern in a Christmas tree crop in PA, USA. The specimens were sent to the Arthur Fungarium at Purd...

Common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris L.), is an aster native to Eurasia and is now a common weed in gardens, roadsides and vacant lots worldwide. In 2001, Scholler and Toike were first to report that common groundsel was a host for the rust fungus Puccinia lagenophorae Cooke in North America (Scholler and Toike 2001). This report from California was...

Lichens are symbiotic partnerships between a filamentous fungus and a photosymbiotic “alga”. Studies show that lichens harbor endothallic fungi, but that some taxa have been difficult to isolate from the main filamentous thallus-forming fungus and other faster growing lichenicolous/endothallic fungi. Therefore, we aimed to develop and evaluate liqu...

We sequenced the genome of the cacao pathogen Moniliophthora roreri MCA2952, which harbors mating type A1B1 and is the first instance of the fungus identified in Mexico. This draft genome consists of 59.68 Mb on 254 scaffolds; it is 95.8% complete based on the analysis of Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO v.2 with the Basidiomycot...

Smoketrees (or smoke bush, Cotinus spp.) are large deciduous trees or bushes in the Anacardiaceae. European smoketrees (Cotinus coggygria Scop.) are valued as an ornamental for their unusual flowers and striking Autumn color. In June 2020, leaves of C. coggygria from a single tree in a home landscape in Franklin, Indiana. were found to be infected....

The Neotropics have recently emerged as an important region for studies of tropical ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. Specific neotropical areas with high ECM host tree densities have ECM fungal diversities rivaling those of higher-latitude forests. Some forests of the Guiana Shield are dominated by endemic ECM trees of the Fabaceae, including species o...

Worldwide, a large number of cases of harmful mushroom exposure and consumption result in hallucinations, sickness, and death. One contributing factor is that certain poisonous mushrooms closely resemble their edible counterparts, making it difficult for general public collectors to distinguish one from the other. We propose a method to classify mu...

Free link read-only https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author/GBHQYWB4HYVZDZPPDMHB?target=10.1111/mec.16771 Global forests are increasingly threatened by altered climatic conditions and increased attacks by pests and pathogens. The complex ecological interactions among pathogens, microbial communities, tree host, and environment are important...

Four new genera encompassing six new species are described in the Lyophyllaceae ( Agaricales ): the monotypic Australocybe from Australia; the monotypic Phaeotephrocybe from Belize; the monotypic Nigrocarnea from Laos containing the novel conidia-producing species N. radicata and Praearthromyces containing two Asian taxa, the conidia-producing P ....

Erysiphales, otherwise known as the powdery mildews, are an important and speciouse order of fungi that infect plants. Knowedge about the species composition and distribution of these fungi within the U.S. in general, and within Indiana, is limited. In the present study, we examined all historical records and literature, as well as new and historic...

Fungal rhizomorphs, largely from the suborder Marasmiineae, are routinely used in the construction of bird nests in tropical and subtropical forests. Fungal rhizomorphs provide structural benefits that include increased tensile strength and water repellence. Additionally, it has been hypothesized that the incorporation of rhizomorphs into nests may...

Rosa multiflora Thunb. is a perennial shrub native to eastern Asia. It is commonly found on habitat margins, such as forest edges, streams, and roadsides (CABI n.d.). Due to its aromatic flowers, its usefulness in erosion control, and as a living livestock fence, R. multiflora was introduced to North America as an ornamental in the early 1800’s (Hi...

Coffee leaf rust caused by Hemileia vastatrix is the most devastating diseases of Coffea arabica. This study was under-taken to characterise the genetic diversity and structure of the fungal populations collected from major coffee-growing areas of Ethiopia using 17 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) polymorphic markers. Observed alleles per locus ranged...

Frosty pod rot disease of cacao (FPR), caused by the fungus Moniliophthora roreri, has severely impacted the production of cocoa in Latin America since its discovery. Prior to the 1950s, FPR was known only from Colombia and Ecuador. However, beginning in the 1970s, its geographical range has dramatically expanded throughout most of the chocolate‐pr...

The documentation of rust fungi in tropical Africa is very incomplete. For West Africa, 332 species of rust fungi (Pucciniales, Basidiomycota) are recorded, including only six species from Benin. By a recent survey of rust fungi in Benin, 22 specimens representing 11 species of Pucciniales were found. These species were identified based on morpholo...

Rumex crispus L. (curled dock) is a noxious weed in both grasslands (mainly pastures) and arable lands, but is also an early colonizer of many disturbed areas in lowland and upland regions. Rumex crispus is of agricultural significance because it competes with sown or native pasture and crops species and occupies areas that could be utilized by mor...

Sexual reproduction, mutation, and reassortment of nuclei increase genotypic diversity in rust fungi. Sexual reproduction is inherent to rust fungi, coupled with their coevolved plant hosts in native pathosystems. Rust fungi are hypothesised to exchange nuclei by somatic hybridisation with an outcome of increased genotypic diversity, independent of...

Polydiscidium is an enigmatic, monotypic, and rarely reported genus of Ascomycota of uncertain placement. The morphologically unique Polydiscidium martynii grows on dead wood and forms compound ascomata composed of thick, black, gelatinous somatic tissue that branches out from a common base. Multiple apothecia are located on the branches, mostly to...

Bog hemp (Boehmeria cylindrica) is a perennial herbaceous plant widely distributed across the Americas. In September of 2016, a rust disease was observed on leaves of bog hemp in Florida, USA. The specimen was sent to the Arthur Fungarium at Purdue University for further identification and long-term deposit. Based on morphological characteristics a...

Peru is the second largest producer of organic cocoa and one of the most important suppliers of fine aroma cocoa beans in the world (Sánchez et al. 2019). The fine aroma cocoa produced by smallholder farmers in the Bagua and Utcubamba Provinces, Amazonas Department, under the name of “Cacao Amazonas Peru”, is protected by the Peruvian appellation r...

Hesperomyces virescens (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales), a fungal ectoparasite, is thus far reported on Harmonia axyridis from five continents: North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. While it is known that He. virescens can cause mortality of Ha. axyridis under laboratory conditions, the role of biotic and abiotic factors in influencing the...

Rust fungi are important plant pathogens and have been extensively studied on crops and other host plants worldwide. This study describes the heterecious life cycle of a rust fungus on Digitaria eriantha (finger grass) and the Solanum species S. lichtensteinii (large yellow bitter apple), S. campylacanthum (bitter apple), and S. melongena (eggplant...

Shifts in food microbiomes may impact the establishment of human pathogens, such as virulent lineages of Escherichia coli, and thus are important to investigate. Foods that are often consumed raw, such as lettuce, are particularly susceptible to such outbreaks. We have previously found that an undescribed Sporobolomyces yeast is an abundant compone...

Five species of Crepidotus (Agaricales, Crepidotaceae) were documented during our ongoing efforts to characterize the fungi of Kerala State, India. Of these, three species are new to science, while C. roseus and C. alabamensis represent new Asian and Indian records, respectively. Herein, we fully describe and illustrate Crepidotus exiguus, C. flavo...

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of Pseudotulostoma volvatum , an unusual ectomycorrhizal fungus in the “mold” order Eurotiales (Ascomycota, Pezizomycotina). The assembled genome is 60.4 Mbp and contains an estimated 5,492 genes. Compared with closely related species, the P. volvatum genome is depauperate in secondary metabolite gene clust...

Hawaii has long been one of the last coffee-producing regions of the world free of coffee leaf rust (CLR) disease, which is caused by the biotrophic fungus Hemileia vastatrix. However, CLR was detected in coffee farms and feral coffee on the island of Maui in February 2020 and subsequently on other islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. The source of...

In Michigan, corn (Zea mays) is grown on 2.35 million acres with an annual production valued at $1.36 billion dollars (USDA-NASS). Southern rust is caused by the obligate biotrophic fungus Puccinia polysora Underw. and is often ranked in the top five most destructive corn diseases in the southern U.S. (Mueller et al. 2020). Yield losses due to sout...

Erysiphales (Ascomycota, Leotiomycetes), known as the powdery mildews, is an important and speciose order of fungi that infect plants. Knowledge about the species composition and distribution of these fungi within the U.S. in general, and within Indiana, is limited. In this study, we examined all historical records, including from online data aggre...

Helianthus verticillatus, the whorled sunflower, is an endangered species found only in the southern United States (Trigiano et al. 2021) that is being developed for ornamental uses. This sunflower species requires little to no maintenance, produces spectacular floral displays from September into October, and attracts numerous potential pollinators...

Laboulbeniales (Fungi, Ascomycota) are microscopic ectoparasites of arthropods, primarily insects. Thus far, of about 2,325 described species of Laboulbeniales, 96 are reported from hosts in the order Hemiptera, including 15 species of the large genus Laboulbenia. Here, we describe one new species of Laboulbenia from Tachygerris surinamensis (Hemip...

During a study of specimens of graminicolous rust fungi from USA deposited in the Arthur Fungarium (PUR) two previously undescribed species infecting Melica spp. were encountered. These are described and compared to similar rust fungi on Melica from around the world. ABBASI, M., Aime. M.C.A. 2015. Two new Puccinia species on Melica (Poaceae) from U...

TYPE specimens are fundamental and unique material that determine the correct application of scientific names. As a result of studying the TYPE specimens of common Melampsora species on Salix spp. in the Arthur Herbarium (PUR) at Purdue University, a new species concept for M. paradoxa was derived. This species has a much narrower distribution than...

ABBASI, M., Aime. M.C.A., Creswell, T. and Ruhl, G.E. 2015. Contribution to the rust mycobiota of Indiana. 2015 Poster Session of Botany and Pant Pathology. November 17, Purdue University. The Beck Agricultural Center

Rust fungi (Pucciniales, Basidiomycota) are obligate biotrophic pathogens that cause rust diseases in plants, inflicting severe damage to agricultural crops. Pucciniales possess the most complex life cycles known in fungi. These include an alternation of generations, the development of up to five different sporulating stages, and, for many species,...

Hemileia vastatrix is the most important fungal pathogen of coffee and the causal agent of recurrent disease epidemics that have invaded nearly every coffee-growing region in the world. The development of coffee varieties resistant to H. vastatrix requires fundamental understanding of the biology of the fungus. However, the complete life cycle of H...

Neotropical cloud forests are biologically and ecologically unique and represent a largely untapped reservoir of species new to science, particularly for understudied groups like those within the Kingdom Fungi. We conducted a three-week fungal survey within Cusuco National Park, Honduras and made 116 collections of fungi in forest habitats at 1287–...

Ectomycorrhizal tree species may benefit from positive plant-soil feedbacks, where soil environments near adult trees enhance conspecific seedling growth and survival. In tropical monodominant forests, seedling survival is particularly important, as seedling banks help maintain stand-level dominance over generations. Positive plant-soil feedbacks m...

In this perspective, we draw on recent scientific research on the coffee leaf rust (CLR) epidemic that severely impacted several countries across Latin America and the Caribbean over the last decade, to explore how the socioeconomic impacts from COVID-19 could lead to the reemergence of another rust epidemic. We describe how past CLR outbreaks have...

Sporobolomyces lactosus is a pink yeast-like fungus that is not congeneric with other members of Sporobolomyces (Basidiomycota, Microbotryomycetes, Sporidiobolales). During our ongoing studies of pink yeasts we determined that S. lactosus was most closely related to Pseudeurotium zonatum (Ascomycota, Leotiomycetes, Thelebolales). A molecular phylog...

Nitrogen (N) fixation is a driving force for the formation of symbiotic associations between N2-fixing bacteria and eukaryotes.¹ Limited examples of these associations are known in fungi, and none with sexual structures of non-lichenized species.2, 3, 4, 5, 6 The basidiomycete Guyanagaster necrorhizus is a sequestrate fungus endemic to the Guiana S...

In this perspective, we draw on recent scientific research on the coffee leaf rust (CLR) epidemic that severely impacted several countries across Latin America and the Caribbean over the last decade, to explore how the socioeconomic impacts from COVID-19 could lead to the reemergence of another rust epidemic. We describe how past CLR outbreaks have...

Here we review how evolving species concepts have been applied to understand yeast diversity. Initially, a phenotypic species concept was utilized taking into consideration morphological aspects of colonies and cells, and growth profiles. Later the biological species concept was added, which applied data from mating experiments. Biophysical measure...

It is now a decade since The International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF) produced an overview of requirements and best practices for describing a new fungal species. In the meantime the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICNafp) has changed from its former name (the International Code of Botanical Nomencla...

Fungal dimorphism is a phenomenon by which a fungus can grow both as a yeast form and a hyphal form. It is frequently related to pathogenicity as different growth forms are more suitable fordifferent functions during a life cycle. Among dimorphic plant pathogens, the corn smut fungus Ustilago maydis serves as a model organism to understand fungal d...

Romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is an important staple of American agriculture. Unlike many vegetables, romaine lettuce is typically consumed raw. Phylloplane microbes occur naturally on plant leaves; consumption of uncooked leaves includes consumption of phylloplane microbes. Despite this fact, the microbes that naturally occur on produce such as...

The identification and proper naming of microfungi, in particular plant, animal and human pathogens, remains challenging. Molecular identification is becoming the default approach for many fungal groups, and environmental metabarcoding is contributing an increasing amount of sequence data documenting fungal diversity on a global scale. This include...

A new ectomycorrhizal species was discovered during the first survey of fungal diversity at Brijuni National Park (Croatia), which consists of 14 islands and islets. The National Park is located in the Mediterranean Biogeographical Region, a prominent climate change hot-spot. Inocybe brijunica sp. nov., from sect. Hysterices (Agaricales, Inocybacea...