Some Rust Fungi of Higher Plants in Zarafshan National Nature Park

This article presents data on rust fungi identified during mycological investigations. As a result of the analyses, it was recorded that 23 species of rust fungi belonging to 1 class, 1 order, 4 families, and 5 genera are distributed on higher plants in the Zarafshan National Nature Park, occurring on 24 species of higher plants belonging to 6 families and 22 genera. The analysis showed that 23 species of rust fungi belong to the division Basidiomycota, order Pucciniales, and the families Pucciniaceae, Phragmidaceae, Melampsoraceae, and Gymnosporangiaceae. Based on the collected herbarium specimens, species of the genera Puccinia (13 species), Phragmidium (2 species), Melampsora (3 species), Uromyces (4 species), and Gymnosporangium (1 species) were found to cause rust disease on their host plants. All these fungi are plant parasites and are generally highly specialized with respect to the host plant species they infect.