Ascomycetes Fungi: Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi.

They are commonly known as sac-fungi. They come under the sub-kingdom Dikarya (presence of dikaryon). They produce sexual non-motile spores known as ascospores. They are produced in a sac-like structure known as an ascus. Each ascus contains 4-8 ascospores.

Common examples of Ascomycetes Fungi include yeast, powdery mildews, cup fungi, morels, truffles, Neurospora, Aspergillus, Cladonia, Penicillium, Candida, Claviceps, etc.

Ascomycetes Fungi Characteristics

• One character that is present is most of the ascomycetes is a reproductive structure known as ascus or asci
• Mostly they are terrestrial, parasitic or coprophilous
• They are unicellular or multicellular fungi
• The mycelium is made up of septate and branched hyphae
• The cell wall is made up of chitin or ꞵ-glucans
• There is cytoplasmic continuity due to septal pores
• Asexual reproduction is by the formation of conidia exogenously on conidiophores
• Yeast reproduces asexually by budding
• Sexual reproduction is by conjugation between two gametangia. They are either homothallic or heterothallic
• The fruiting body is known as ascocarp. There are four types of ascocarps:
  1. Cleistothecium- The fruiting body is spherical and remains tightly closed, e.g. Aspergillus
  2. Perithecium- The fruiting body is flask-shaped with one external opening, e.g. Neurospora
  3. Apothecium- The fruiting body is cup-shaped and asci are present in hymenium, e.g. Peziza
  4. Ascostroma- There is no differentiated fruiting body. Asci are present in the stroma, e.g. Mycosphaerella

Follow on Facebook

By Team Learning Mantras