[Pollinator] Fwd: FW: myrtle rust

[Peter Kevan]

Thank you for the photographs. Interesting. There are a goodly number of examples of otherwise-pollinating insects dispersing plant diseases. There are records in the literature of bees collecting spores of rusts from the lesions on infected plants. Some smuts (Ustilago) are notorious for this as part of their life cycles (U. violacea on Silene spp. (excuse the names if they are out of date) is one of the better known). There are various Monilinia spp. and related genera (including the dreaded Sclerotinia), also Botrytis, Erwinia, and etc. that are associated with transmission by pollinators. The blueberry mummy berry (M. vaccinii-corymbosi) has a fascinating life history with pollinating bees transporting spores (aeciospores?) from sugary leasons on the leaves into the flowers where infection causes the mummification. The fruits fall to the ground and next year produce asci. 

The last review I know of on these sorts the things was by a fellow in UK called Plowright in the late 19th Century. Of course, his detailed work is far to old to worth reading. 

Cheers, 

Peter 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Peter Bernhardt" <bernhap2 at slu.edu> 
To: "Meredith Blackwell" <mblackwell at lsu.edu>, "Peter Raven" <peter.raven at mobot.org>, "Shirley Tucker" <tucker at lifesci.ucsb.edu>, "Bee United" <beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com>, "Pollinator List-serv" <pollinator at lists.sonic.net>, "Robyn Williams" <Williams.Robyn at abc.net.au>, "Allison Miller" <amille75 at slu.edu> 
Sent: Friday, January 1, 2016 6:33:54 AM 
Subject: [Pollinator] Fwd: FW: myrtle rust 

Dear Colleagues: 

Dr Peter Wilson of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust (Sydney, NSW) took the attached photo. The little black trigonid bee is native to Australia. It used to be in genus, Trigona. It is now in gnus Tetragonula and I believe that 6 species are recognized in Australia at the moment. That's not pollen it's collecting. That's the spores of rust fungus (Teliomycota) known to infect members of the Eucalyptus family (Myrtaceae). I am turning the photo over to mycologist, Meredith Blackwell. Meredith, isn't this the teliospore (2n) stage? Spore stages of rusts fungi are complex and have different genetic stages as they change their hosts in the course of the life-cycle. Wheat rust (for example) has certain stages on wheat but sends out a spore stage to attack barberry (Berberis). It has been suspected for sometime that some bees mistake the teliospore stage of some rusts for pollen but Meredith and Peter Kevan may be able to point us to publications. 

I'm not here to work on this interaction but my host has a pet colony of this bee on her veranda. They are given away for free by the Town Council of St. Ives, New South Wales. If you take good care of the bees the Council returns each year to divide the colony and gives it to another family in the suburbs. I will take photos of the bee box tomorrow and send them on. The other day, Wendy thought she saw a blue-banded bee (Amegilla) foraging for spores on a Eucalyptus on her property. I saw the same bee but did not see it forage on infected leaves. 

Peter 
---------- Forwarded message ---------- 
From: Wendy Grimm < wagrimm at tpg.com.au > 
Date: Fri, Jan 1, 2016 at 10:12 PM 
Subject: FW: myrtle rust 
To: Peter Bernhardt < bernhap2 at slu.edu > 


Dear Peter, 
Photo of stingless native bee collecting myrtle rust spores courtesy of from 
Jonathan Leadbeater via Dr Peter Wilson 
Regards, 
Wendy Grimm 


From: Peter Wilson [mailto: Peter.Wilson at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au ] 
Sent: Friday, 6 March 2015 9:48 AM 
To: Wendy Grimm 
Subject: myrtle rust 

Dear Wendy 

Here is the picture of the stingless bee and the myrtle rust spores. 

Dr Peter G. Wilson 
Principal Research Scientist 
National Herbarium of N.S.W. 

Botanic Gardens & Centennial Parklands 
T (02) 9231 8158 
E peter.wilson at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au <mailto: peter.wilson at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au > 
Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia 

[Version 5 from RBG] 


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