Bunt
Tilletia caries
Pathogen
Fungus
Hosts
Wheat
Symptoms
Infected plants moderately stunted. On ear emergence bunted heads are slender and maintain their green colour longer. At ripening glumes on infected ears are pushed further apart than usual due to the presence of round, plum bunt balls which replace the grain. The bunt balls contain a mass of black spores and have a strong fish-like smell.
Development
Infection can only arise from contaminated seed. Seeds become contaminated during harvest when bunt balls break and contaminate the surface of the grain with spores.
Importance
Contaminated grain may fail certification for seed.
Control
Avoid use of contaminated non-certified seed
Seed treatments give reliable control.
Notes
COVERED SMUT – Ustilago hordeiI – host barley.
DWARF SMUT – Tiletia controversa – host wheat.
These species give similar symptoms to bunt, Tiletia caries in wheat and are of little importance in the UK.
