Ergot << UR guht >> is a parasitic fungus that attacks wheat, barley, rye, and many wild and cultivated grasses. It most commonly infects rye. Ergot attacks the grain of the plant. Long purple structures of the fungus called sclerotia form in place of the seeds of the host plant. In the spring these sclerotia grow and produce stalks and spores. The spores ripen and are scattered by the wind to infect new plants. Ergot infection can be reduced or prevented by rotating crops, using clean seed, and cutting grasses that may harbor the disease.
Ergot also causes a disease called ergotism in human beings and cattle. This disease was common among people who ate bread made from rye grain that contained ergot sclerotia. The symptoms were often gangrene and convulsions. The disease has now practically disappeared because of improved methods of cleaning grain.
Ergot sclerotia are the source of a number of drugs, such as ergonovine, ergotoxine, and ergotamine. The most common uses of these drugs are to ease migraine headaches and to prevent hemorrhage after childbirth.
