Pseudoflowers

What are pseudoflowers?

Certain fungi that interact with plants can produce structures that resemble flowers or parts of flowers. These structures are usually called pseudoflowers. 

Fusarium pseudoflowers

Botanical fieldwork conducted in western Guyana in 2012 by Kenneth Wurdack revealed the presence of flower-like structures on three yellow-eyed grasses (Xyris setigera, Xyris surinamensis, and Xyris bicephala). Molecular work led to determining that these structures were produced by a novel Fusarium species. This discovery was reported and the fungus described as Fusarium xyrophilum by Laraba et al. 2019.

This is the first report of a Fusarium species producing potential pseudoflowers on a plant host, which raises an array of questions about the epidemiology of the fungus, how it affects the plant, and its potential involvement in insect attraction.

My research project seeks to collect information about the interactions between Fusarium xyrophilum and yellow-eyed grasses to determine whether this is a new mimicry system. We will achieve this by:

• Characterizing the disease caused by F. xyrophilum on yellow-eyed grasses based on field observations (signs, symptoms, environmental conditions).
• Determining the main dispersal mechanisms of F. xyrophilum by evaluating its presence in soils, healthy and infected plant tissue, inflorescences, and insect visitors; and testing the potential mechanisms in greenhouse experiments.
• To determine if F. xyrophilum alters the attraction of insect visitors to Xyris by comparing insect visitation and production of volatile compounds between pseudoflowers and true flowers; and determining if these insects carry F. xyrophilum on their bodies.
• To evaluate the presence of other microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) in the production of pseudoflowers by analyzing the microbial communities on pseudoflowers and true flowers.
• To increase our understanding of how F. xyrophilum manipulates its host plant at the molecular level by analyzing the transcriptome of uninfected vs. infected Xyris

Collaborate with us by reporting observations of this fungus!