ergot

ergot
/err"geuht, -got/, n.
1. Plant Pathol.
a. a disease of rye and other cereal grasses, caused by a fungus of the genus Claviceps, esp. C. purpurea, which replaces the affected grain with a long, hard, blackish sclerotial body.
b. the sclerotial body itself.
2. Pharm. the dried sclerotium of C. purpurea, developed on rye plants: used in the production of ergotamine and ergotoxine.
[1675-85; < F: lit., a rooster's spur; OF argos, argoz, argot spur(s)]

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Disease of cereal grasses, especially rye, caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea.

An ear of rye infected with ergot exudes a sweet, yellowish mucus. Ergot is the source of drugs used to control postpartum hemorrhage and to treat migraine headaches. Lysergic acid, from which the powerful hallucinogen LSD is synthesized, comes from ergot. Taking an overdose of ergot-derived medications or eating flour milled from ergot-infected rye can cause ergotism (also called St. Anthony's Fire) in humans and livestock; symptoms may include convulsions, miscarriages in females, and dry gangrene, and may result in death.

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      fungal disease of cereal grasses, especially rye, caused by the ascomycete fungus Claviceps purpurea. In an ear of rye infected with ergot, a sweet, yellowish mucus is exuded for a time, followed by a loss of starch as the ear ceases growth. The ovaries then become permeated by the mycelium, a mass of fungal filaments, which in autumn forms the spur-like purple-black sclerotium.

      The sclerotium constitutes the source of the drugs ergonovine, which is used in obstetrics to control postpartum hemorrhage, and ergotamine, which is used in treating migraine headaches. After an overdose of medications derived from ergot or after eating flour milled from ergot-infected rye, humans and livestock may develop ergotism, a condition sometimes called St. Anthony's Fire. The symptoms may include convulsions, miscarriages in females, and dry gangrene and may result in death. Ergot is also the source of lysergic acid, from which the powerful hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is easily synthesized.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • ergot — ergot …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • ergot — [ ɛrgo ] n. m. • argoz plur. 1160; origine inconnue I ♦ Production cornée derrière la patte de quelques animaux. ⇒ éperon. 1 ♦ Chez les gallinacés mâles, Pointe recourbée du tarse, doigt abortif servant d arme offensive. Les ergots du coq. « Le… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Ergot — could be called a cereal killer for it comes from cereals such as rye and wheat and is quite capable of killing someone. A fungus (Claviceps purpurea) that contaminates rye and wheat produces substances (alkaloids) termed ergotamines. Ergotamines …   Medical dictionary

  • ergot — ergót s. n. Trimis de siveco, 10.08.2004. Sursa: Dicţionar ortografic  ERGÓT s. n. 1. formaţie vegetală parazitară, veninoasă, sub formă de mici puncte pe spicul unor graminee. 2. boală criptogamică a cerealelor (secara), caracterizată prin… …   Dicționar Român

  • ergot — fungal disease of rye and other grasses, 1680s, from Fr. ergot, from O.Fr. argot cock s spur (12c.), of unknown origin. The blight so called from the shape the fungus forms on the diseased grain. Ergotism disease caused by eating ergot infected… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Ergot — Er got, n. [F. ergot, argot, lit., a spur.] 1. A diseased condition of rye and other cereals, in which the grains become black, and often spur shaped. It is caused by a parasitic fungus, {Claviceps purpurea}. [1913 Webster] 2. The mycelium or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ergot — èrgot m DEFINICIJA 1. bot. ražena gljivica 2. pat. guka na koljenu (bolest konja) ETIMOLOGIJA fr. ergot …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Ergot — Ergot, so v.w. Mutterkorn. Daher Ergotīn, Bestandtheil des Mutterkorns (Secale cornutum) u. wahrscheinlich der narkotisch wirksame. Es ist ein braunrothes, in Äther unlösliches, in Wasser schwer u. in Alkohol leichter lösliches Pulver von bitterm …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Ergot — Ergot, Ergotin, s. Mutterkorn …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • ergot — Ergot, m. acut. voyez Argot et Herigoté …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • ergot — [ʉr′gət, ʉrgät΄] n. [Fr < OFr argot, a rooster s spur, hence (from the shape) the disease growth in the plant] 1. the hard, reddish brown or black, grainlike masses (sclerotia) of certain parasitic fungi (esp. genus Claviceps) that replace the …   English World dictionary

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