Ustilago maydis
| Corn smut | |
|---|---|
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| Ustilago maydis diploid teleospores | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Ustilaginomycetes |
| Order: | Ustilaginales |
| Genus: | Ustilago |
| Species: | U. maydis |
| Binomial name | |
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Ustilago maydis (Persoon) Roussel |
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| Corn smut | |
|---|---|
Huitlacoche
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| Common names | huitlacoche (Mexico), blister smut of maize, boil smut of maize, common smut of maize |
| Causal agents | Ustilago maydis |
| Hosts | maize and teosinte |
| EPPO code | USTIMA |
| Distribution | Mexico |
Corn smut is a plant disease caused by the pathogenic fungus Ustilago maydis that causes smut on maize and teosinte. The fungus forms galls on all above-ground parts of corn species, and is known in Mexico as the delicacy huitlacoche; it is eaten, usually as a filling, in quesadillas and other tortilla-based foods, and soups.
In Mexico, corn smut is known as huitlacoche (Spanish pronunciation: [(ɡ)witɬaˈkotʃe], sometimes spelled cuitlacoche). This word entered Spanish in Mexico from classical Nahuatl, though the Nahuatl words from which huitlacoche is derived is debated. In modern Nahuatl, the word for huitlacoche is cuitlacochin (Nahuatl pronunciation: [kʷit͡ɬɑˈkot͡ʃin]), and some sources deem cuitlacochi to be the classical form.
Some sources wrongly give the etymology as coming from the Nahuatl words cuitlatl [ˈkʷit͡ɬɑ] ("excrement" or "rear-end", actually meaning "excrescence") and cochi [ˈkot͡ʃt͡ɬi] (cochi = "to sleep"), thus giving a combined mismeaning of "sleeping/hibernating excrement", but actually meaning "sleeping excrescence", referring to the fact that the fungus grows in between the corns and impedes them from developing, thus they remain "sleeping".
A second group of sources deem the word to mean "raven's excrement". These sources appear to be combining the word cuitlacoche for "thrasher" with cuitla, meaning "excrement", actually meaning "excrescence". However, the avian meaning of cuitlacoche derives from the Nahuatl word "song" cuīcatl [ˈkʷiːkɑt͡ɬ], itself from the verb "to sing" cuīca [ˈkʷiːkɑ]. This root then clashes with this reconstruction's second claim that the segment cuitla- comes from cuitla ("excrement").
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