First records of Uromyces glycyrrhizae ( Pucciniales ) in Ukraine

Epiphytotic development of a new for Ukraine rust fungus Uromyces glycyrrhizae was recorded in May and September 2017 on the eastern shore of Kuyalnik Estuary (Odesa Region, Ukraine) on Glycyrrhiza glabra, a species listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. Hitherto, the fungus was reported for Europe, northern Africa, Asia and North America. The reason why U. glycyrrhizae was recorded in Ukraine only recently remains unclear, but taking into account that this species in Europe is confined to its warmer part, climate change might be argued as a cause of this. The article is illustrated by original micrographs.


Introduction
The genus Glycyrrhiza L. comprises about 20 species distributed mainly in temperate Eurasia and in North Africa.Only few species are known from outside Eurasia: G. acanthocarpa (Lindl.)J.M. Black is native of Australia, G. astragalina Hook.& Arn.-of South America, and G. lepidota Pursh -of North America (The Plant List, 2013).In Ukraine three species of this genus occur.Glycyrrhiza glabra L. distributed in coastal areas of the Black and Azov seas is listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine (Fedoronchuk, 2009).Uromyces glycyrrhizae (Rabenh.)Magnus parasitizing several species of Glycyrrhiza in Eurasia and North America hitherto was unknown in Ukraine.
Here we report the first for Ukraine records of this fungus and provide some data on its morphology, occurrence, and life cycle.

Materials and methods
Systemically infected plants of G. glabra were collected in Odesa Region, Ukraine.The specimens were studied under a dissecting microscope, labelled and dried for further treatment.Aecio-and teliospores mounted in water or lactic acid were investigated by light microscopy.Photomicrographs were taken under Primo Star microscope, Canon A300 digital camera and AxioVision 4.7 software, used as well for measurements of microstructures.For scanning electron microscopy, samples were covered with an ultrathin coating of gold by ion beam sputtering unit JFC-1100.Images were obtained by a scanning electron microscope JEOL JSM-6060 LA.
The specimens are deposited in the Mycological Herbarium of the M.G.Kholodny Institute of Botany, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (KW-M).Aecial and telial stages of U. glycyrrhizae last for the extended period.Our specimen collected in May bears aecia, whereas a specimen collected in September shows telia with only a small admixture of aeciospores.

Results and discussion
The reason why U. glycyrrhizae was recorded in Ukraine only recently, remains unclear.Taking into account that this species in Europe is confined to its warmer part, climate change might be argued as a cause of this; however, our records are not the northernmost ones in Europe since the species was noted as far north as Saratov, Russia (51° N) (Tranzschel, 1939) Arthur, Résult. Sci. Congr. Bot. Wien 1905: 345. 1906.
In Europe only two other species of Uromyces cause systemic infection of legumes of the tribe Galegeae, and they clearly differ from U. glycyrrhizae.Uromyces lapponicus Lagerh.has aecidioid aecia and verrucose teliospores whereas U. phacae-frigidae (Wahlenb.)Har.produces only telia with verrucose teliospores.Both species occur in arctic regions and mountains of Eurasia and North America, so in terms of biogeography they are also quite different from U. glycyrrhizae.
A special study on phenology of U. glycyrrhizae (Luo et al., 1992) revealed that urediospores and basidiospores formed from teliospores infect the basal buds of licorice plants before winter and remain dormant there.The following spring, the infected buds produce stems with systemic infection.