noun
- a condition in which a parasitic fungus completes its entire life cycle on a single host plant species
Usage: botany; mycology
Examples
- Autecism in rust fungi means the pathogen does not require an alternate host to reproduce.
- The wheat stem rust exhibits autecism when it can complete all its life stages on wheat alone.
- Scientists study autecism to understand how certain fungi maintain their populations without switching hosts.
- Autecism simplifies the epidemiology of some plant diseases compared to heteroecious species.