Karnal bunt on wheat kernels
Wheat kernels infected with Karnal bunt (Tilletia indica). Karnal bunt is not easily detected prior to harvest, since only a few kernels per spike are usually affected, but following harvest diseased kernels are easily observed. A mass of black teliospores replaces a portion of the endosperm; the pericarp may be intact or ruptured. Diseased kernels also give off a fetid or fishy odor when crushed.
For more information, see CIMMYT's Wheat Doctor: wheatdoctor.cimmyt.org/index.php?option=com_content&t....
Photo credit: CIMMYT.
Karnal bunt on wheat kernels
Wheat kernels infected with Karnal bunt (Tilletia indica). Karnal bunt is not easily detected prior to harvest, since only a few kernels per spike are usually affected, but following harvest diseased kernels are easily observed. A mass of black teliospores replaces a portion of the endosperm; the pericarp may be intact or ruptured. Diseased kernels also give off a fetid or fishy odor when crushed.
For more information, see CIMMYT's Wheat Doctor: wheatdoctor.cimmyt.org/index.php?option=com_content&t....
Photo credit: CIMMYT.