Oilseed rape colonized by V. longisporum does not develop wilting symptoms, and therefore the common name of Verticillium wilt is unsuitable for this crop. Therefore, we propose 'Verticillium stem striping' as the common name for Verticillium infections of oilseed rape.

Interspecific hybridization is widely observed within diverse eukaryotic taxa, and is considered an important driver for genome evolution. As hybridization fuels genomic and transcriptional alterations, hybrids are adept to respond to environmental changes or to invade novel niches. This may be particularly relevant for organisms that establish symbiotic relationships with host organisms, such as mutualistic symbionts, endophytes and pathogens. The latter group is especially well-known for engaging in everlasting arms races with their hosts. Illustrated by the increased identification of hybrid pathogens with altered virulence or host ranges when compared with their parental lineages, it appears that hybridization is a strong driver for pathogen evolution, and may thus significantly impact agriculture and natural ecosystems.

Smut fungi are a large group of biotrophic plant pathogens that infect mostly monocot species, including economically relevant cereal crops. For years, Ustilago maydis has stood out as the model system to study the genetics and cell biology of smut fungi as well as the pathogenic development of biotrophic plant pathogens. The identification and functional characterization of secreted effectors and their role in virulence have particularly been driven forward using the U. maydis–maize pathosystem. Today, advancing tools for additional smut fungi such as Ustilago hordei and Sporisorium reilianum, as well as an increasing number of available genome sequences, provide excellent opportunities to investigate in parallel the effector function and evolution associated with different lifestyles and host specificities. In addition, genome analyses revealed similarities in the genomic signature between pathogenic smuts and epiphytic Pseudozyma species. This review elaborates on how knowledge about fungal lifestyles, genome biology, and functional effector biology has helped in understanding the biology of this important group of fungal pathogens. We highlight the contribution of the U. maydis model system but also discuss the differences from other smut fungi, which raises the importance of comparative genomic and genetic analyses in future research.