The results of these studies will assist growers in choosing cultivation and rotation schedules that discourage the growth and spread of the fungus. Future studies will target the effect of cultivation, plants and competition from other microorganisms in the soil on survival of the fungus. While the fungus reduces the quality of the crop, no serious yield reductions have been reported in India or more recently, in Mexico, where the fungus appeared in 1970. The fungus is nontoxic to humans and livestock. Caused by the fungus Tilletia indica, the disease is also known as partial bunt because it usually damages only part of a kernel.
Crops affected include common wheat, durum wheat, rye and triticale.
The disease is difficult to diagnose in the field because the pathogen grows inside the seedhead, and because it usually does not infect a large number of plants or even an entire plant. Seed samples must be washed and centrifuged in a laboratory to find the spores of the fungus. Chemical seed treatments, fungicides and fumigation provide adequate control.