Pyrenophora seminiperda

{{Short description|Species of fungus}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Pyrenophora seminiperda spores 160X.png

| image_caption = Pyrenophora seminiperda spores

| genus = Pyrenophora

| species = seminiperda

| authority = (Brittleb. & D.B. Adam) Shoemaker, (1966)

}}

Pyrenophora seminiperda is a minor plant pathogen that causes leaf spots on many grasses.{{cite journal|last1=Medd|first1=RW|last2=Murray|first2=GM|last3=Pickering|first3=DI|title=Review of the epidemiology and economic importance of Pyrenophora semeniperda|journal=Australasian Plant Pathology|date=2003|volume=32|issue=4|pages=539–550|doi=10.1071/AP03059|bibcode=2003AuPP...32..539M |s2cid=26067172}} It is an important generalist grass seed pathogen{{cite journal|vauthors=Beckstead J, Meyer SE, Ishizuka TS, McEvoy KM, Coleman CE |title=Lack of Host Specialization on Winter Annual Grasses in the Fungal Seed Bank Pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda|journal=PLOS ONE|date=March 7, 2016|volume=11|issue=3|page=e0151058|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0151058|pmid=26950931|pmc=4780786|bibcode=2016PLoSO..1151058B|doi-access=free}} which causes visible cylindrical masses of black fungal hyphae (stromata) to grow from infected seeds. Hence the common name "black fingers of death"{{cite web|last1=Meyer|first1=SE|title=Cheatgrass Biocontrol with "Black Fingers of Death"|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/research/highlights/highlights_display.php?in_high_id=703|website=www.fs.fed.us|publisher=USDA Forest Service|accessdate=21 February 2017}} File:BFOD4TC.jpgIt has been hypothesized that the fungus arrived in North America with invasive grasses from Eurasia.{{cite journal|last1=Boose|first1=D|author2=Harrison S|author3=Clement S|author4= Meyer S|title=Population genetic structure of the seed pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda on Bromus tectorum in western North America|journal=Mycologia|date=2011|volume=103|issue=1|pages=85–93|pmid=20943557|doi=10.3852/09-310|jstor=27920465|s2cid=10058827}} BFOD has been suggested as a method of biocontrol of the invasive cheatgrass, one of the most important invasive species in the USA.{{cite news|last1=BARRINGER|first1=FELICITY|title=Out West, 'Black Fingers of Death' Offer Hope Against an Invader|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/science/earth/a-fungus-emerges-as-weapon-against-cheatgrass.html|accessdate=21 February 2017|work=New York Times|date=2012}} Various secondary metabolites of the fungus, including Cytochalasin B, Pyrenophoric Acid-B, and Spirostaphylotrichin W, appears to be responsible for the seed killing.{{cite journal|vauthors=Masi M, Evidente A, Meyer S, Nicholson J, Muñoz A |title=Effect of strain and cultural conditions on the production of cytochalasin B by the potential mycoherbicide Pyrenophora semeniperda|journal=Biocontrol Science and Technology|date=2014|volume=24|issue=1|pages=53–64|doi=10.1080/09583157.2013.844769|s2cid=33374513}}{{cite journal|vauthors=Masi M, Cimmino A, Clement S, Black B, Evidente A|title=Pyrenophoric Acids B and C, two new phytotoxic sesquiterpenoids produced by Pyrenophora semeniperda|journal=Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry|date=2014|volume=62|issue=42|pages=10304–10311|doi=10.1021/jf5035515|pmid=25264583}}{{cite journal|vauthors=Masi M, Clement S, Andolfi A, Cimmino A, Evidente A|title=Spirostaphylotrichin W, a spirocyclic γ-lactam isolated from liquid culture of Pyrenophora semeniperda, a potential mycoherbicide for cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum)|journal=Tetrahedron|date=2014|volume=70|issue=7|pages=1497–1502|doi=10.1016/j.tet.2013.12.056}}