''Ascosphaera'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
fungi
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
in the family
Ascosphaeraceae
The Ascosphaeraceae are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota, class Eurotiomycetes
Eurotiomycetes is a large class of ascomycetes with cleistothecial ascocarps within the subphylum Pezizomycotina, currently containing around 3810 species accor ...
. It was described in 1955 by mycologists Charles F. Spiltoir and
Lindsay S. Olive.
Members of the genus are insect pathogens. The
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
, ''
A. apis'', causes chalkbrood disease in
honey bee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the ...
s.
The reproductive
ascospore
In fungi, an ascospore is the sexual spore formed inside an ascus—the sac-like cell that defines the division Ascomycota, the largest and most diverse Division (botany), division of fungi. After two parental cell nucleus, nuclei fuse, the ascu ...
s of the fungus are produced within a unique structure, the spore cyst, or sporocyst.
Species
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A. acerosa''
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A. aggregata''
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A. apis''
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A. asterophora''
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A. atra''
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A. callicarpa''
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A. celerrima''
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A. cinnamomea''
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A. duoformis''
*''
A. fimicola''
*''
A. flava''
*''
A. fusiformis''
*''
A. larvis''
*''
A. major''
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A. naganensis''
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A. osmophila''
*''
A. parasitica''
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A. pollenicola''
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A. proliperda''
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A. scaccaria''
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A. solina''
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A. subcuticularis''
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A. tenax''
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A. torchioi''
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A. variegata''
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A. verrucosa''
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A. xerophila''
References
External links
*
Onygenales
Eurotiomycetes genera
Taxa described in 1955
{{Eurotiomycetes-stub