Question

What is correct for stages of Puccinia?
A)Telia and aecia on wheat
B)Telia and uredo stage on wheat
C)Telia and aecia on barberry
D)None of the above

Answer 1

Fungi are termed as the eukaryotic organisms that are mostly saprophytic in nature but some species are also shown as pathogenic or parasites of animals and plants. Puccinia is a member of fungi and it is also termed as rusts. It is a kind of obligate pathogen of plants.

Complete answer:
Puccinia is a fungus and it may lead to development of certain diseases and pathogenic conditions in cereal crops such as wheat, barberry, corn, maize etc. The fungi is the characteristic cause of disease known as stem rust in cereal crops. It also leads to black stem rust or cereal rust. The disease can be observed by symptoms like black, orange or rusty coloured structures which are easily shaken off from the plant.
The life cycle of the fungus requires and needs two hosts to complete its life cycle. The different stages of the rust are known to be shown by the presence of uredinia on the wheat plant.

The uredinia are located on the leaf sheaths as well as stems and leaves of the wheat plants. The uredinia are observed as brick-red, elongated, blister-like pustules.
The pustules are ruptures and give rise to a ragged appearance. On the plants, at the side of the growing season black telia are produced which are termed as black rust. The telia are black, thick-walled dikaryotic spores which are termed as teliospores.

They further undergo karyogamy to give rise to basidiospores. The basidiospores germinate and give rise to a haploid mycelium. This stage is not infected in wheat but it is need for infectious to the alternative host which is barberry.
In barberry, the fungi complete the other part of the life cycle by the development of puccinia and aecia. The aecia is produced on the abaxial surfaces of the leaves of barberry. Upon maturation, the aecia are observed as bright-orange, closely-packed, raised clusters. They are observed as a grouping of rings within the aecial cluster. Puccinia are located on the upper surface of the leaves and are often in small clusters.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C)

Note: Puccinia is termed as the causative agent of the rust. The fungus completes and exits its life cycle in two hosts which are the cereal plants and barberry. The essential stages of the fungus in wheat are the tedia and uredo stages. In barberry, pycnia and aecial stages are found.