Claviceps purpurea is an ergot fungus that grows on the ears of rye and related cereal and forage plants. Consumption of grains or seeds contaminated with the survival structure of this fungus, the ergot sclerotium, can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals. C. purpurea most commonly affects outcrossing species such as rye (its most common host), as well as triticale, wheat and barley. It affects oats only rarely.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Claviceps purpurea across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Claviceps purpurea has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens58
Marker genes4
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections82
Countries13
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★COI-5P★ITS10★ITS1★ITS2
animal barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceGoaT · NCBI
The complete instruction manualClaviceps purpurea carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Genome size24 510 000 bp
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb
THIS GENOME Claviceps purpurea0.02 Gb
FUNGUS0.04 Gb
INSECT0.25 Gb
HUMAN3.2 Gb
WHEAT17 Gb
FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
Assembly levelComplete Genome
Completeness95.7% BUSCO
07Deep time~46.7 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin46.7 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type12 094 records
Wild obs. + sensor6 609
Museum / vouchered5 419
Cultivated / captive1
Other65
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO25 184 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy43% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 916≤1 km 707≤10 km 3 417>10 km 38
6 078 georeferenced · 531 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor6 609
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy33% within 1 km
≤100 m 271≤1 km 741≤10 km 1 492>10 km 527
3 031 georeferenced · 2 388 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence5 419
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 1 records without
Open the mapnot free-living1
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions48 of 92 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Researchlocation not on record
644
Olocation not on record
530
Helsinki, FI
321
DPIlocation not on record
288
Uppsala, SE
270
ILLSlocation not on record
231
Karlsruhe, DE
195
Pullman, US
181
Madison, US
171
Catholic University of Pekinglocation not on record
165
Bronx, US
159
Görlitz, DE
155
Tartu, EE
154
Auckland, NZ
149
St. Paul, US
119
Lincoln, US
115
LDlocation not on record
92
Champaign, US
55
TROMlocation not on record
51
Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiejlocation not on record
49
Chicago, US
42
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
34
FLASlocation not on record
29
Kensington, AU
28
Vancouver, CA
23
CA
22
Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record
20
IFR-DNFlocation not on record
16
Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centrelocation not on record
16
TENN-Flocation not on record
15
Toronto, CA
15
Copenhagen, DK
14
WU-MYClocation not on record
13
Brown Universitylocation not on record
13
Trondheim, NO
13
Kew, GB
13
Hobart, AU
11
FAMCALlocation not on record
10
Philadelphia, US
9
Baton Rouge, US
9
Oulu, FI
9
Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Researchlocation not on record
9
Joensuu, FI
8
Cincinnati, US
8
Parkville, AU
8
Stockholm, SE
7
Salzburg, AT
7
Grupo Actinomicetales Merida Facultad de Medicinalocation not on record
7
Chapel Hill, US
7
Clemson, US
6
6
GJOlocation not on record
5
Mlocation not on record
5
WTUlocation not on record
5
Museum Ludovicae Ulricae, Zoology Institute of the University of Uppsalalocation not on record
4
PHlocation not on record
4
CJBGlocation not on record
4
Berlin, DE
4
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
4
Oskarshamn, SE
4
Universidade de Lisboa, Museu Bocagelocation not on record
3
Canberra, AU
3
MeiseBGlocation not on record
3
GZUlocation not on record
3
HabitatVisionlocation not on record
2
Göteborg, SE
2
nsnflocation not on record
2
Turku, FI
2
Leicester, GB
2
Entomological Society of Latvialocation not on record
2
Laramie, US
2
Vitoria, ES
2
Davis and Elkins Collegelocation not on record
2
Uniwersytet Wrocławskilocation not on record
2
Provincia di Livornolocation not on record
1
BDBClocation not on record
1
Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld)location not on record
1
Museo civico di Storia naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova | Giacomo Doria Natural History Museum in Genoalocation not on record
1
Zürich, CH
1
Slovenian Forestry Institutelocation not on record
1
Odawara, JP
1
Staten Island, US
1
Córdoba, ES
1
UAclocation not on record
1
Kuopio, FI
1
New Brunswick, US
1
SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record
1
Logan, US
1
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung: Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseumlocation not on record
1
Hirosaki Universitylocation not on record
1
Acadia Universitylocation not on record
1
Durham, US
1
92 institutions · 4 630 of 5 419 vouchered records shown · 542 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA82 detections
Where the DNA of Claviceps purpurea was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found82
Studies independent surveys3
Countries13
Signal confidence: moderateweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 82 detections have coordinates
Open the map13 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median12.4 °C 1.80–19.2
Seasonal swing summer↔winter18.3 °C
Max temp (day)16.6 °C 7.60–23.6
Min temp (night)7.40 °C -2.20–14.5
Precipitation67.9 mm/mo 28.7–173
Air humidity60.5 % 55.5–63.4
Moisture balance-19.2 mm/mo -58.9–59.6
Vapour deficit568 Pa 367–895
Wind speed3.30 m/s 2.50–4.00
Cloud cover40.0 % 32.1–50.4
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 33 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation15 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility11 852 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System242 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI82 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics58 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗