SYNOPTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA
| EUKARYA> OPISTHOKONTA> UNIKONTA> FUNGI> DIKARYA> ASCOMYCOTA |
ASCOMYCOTA LINKS
| The following description comes from Alexopoulos and Mims (1979), Alexopoulos et al. (1996), Bold et al. (1987), and Scagel et al. (1984), Adl et al. (2005 and 2012), Hibbett et al. (2007). |
I. SYNONYMS: ascomycetes, sac fungi.
II. NUMBER: >15,000 species.
III. PHYLUM CHARACTERISTICS:
- A. ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION: Conidia (text with tooltip) Asexual reproductive spores formed on a conidiophore. .
- B. SEXUAL REPRODUCTION: Ascospores (text with tooltip) Sexually produced fungal spores formed within an ascus. produced within an ascus (text with tooltip) Sac-like structure in which sexually produced ascospores are produced. and often enclosed within an ascocarp (text with tooltip) Mature fruiting body of ascomycetes; contain asci. . Nuclear fusion followed by meiosis (and usually a mitosis) to produce 8 ascospores in an ascus. Distinctive gametangia and stages of ascospore formation.
- C. VEGETATIVE HYPHAE: Haplophase (text with tooltip) Portion of life cycle during which the organism is haploid. dominant; dikaryophase (text with tooltip) Portion of life cycle during which cells are dikaryotic. produces ascogenous hyphae (text with tooltip) Specialized cells that contain pairs of nuclei of opposite mating types. and ascus mother cells.
- D. CELL WALLS: Chitin and glucan.
- E. ECOLOGY: These are fungi that are free-living saprobes or parasites. Some of them make chimeroid entities like mycorrhizal associations and lichens (text with tooltip) Organism formed by symbiotic association between fungi and green algae or cyanobaccteria. .
| By Jack R. Holt and Carlos A. Iudica. Last revised: 03/12/2013 |
