Dothideomycetes is the largest and most diverse
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...
of
ascomycete
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, with over 64,000 species. The d ...
fungi
A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...
. It comprises 11
orders
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
90
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
, 1300
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...
and over 19,000 known
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
.
[ Traditionally, most of its members were included in the loculoascomycetes, which is not part of the currently accepted classification.][ This indicates that several traditional morphological features in the class are not unique and DNA sequence comparisons are important to define the class.][
The designation loculoascomycetes was first proposed for all fungi which have ascolocular development. This type of development refers to the way in which the sexual structure, bearing the sexual spores (]ascospore
An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera o ...
s) forms. Dothideomycetes mostly produce flask-like structures referred to as pseudothecia
An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mos ...
, although other shape variations do exist (e.g. see structures found in Hysteriales
The Hysteriales are an order of fungi in the class Dothideomycetes, subclass Pleosporomycetidae. It consists of a single family, Hysteriaceae
The Hysteriaceae (also known as Dothideomycetes, Ascomycotina, Eumycota) are a taxonomic family of ...
). During ascolocular development pockets (locule
A locule (plural locules) or loculus (plural loculi) (meaning "little place" in Latin) is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism (animal, plant, or fungus).
In angiosperms (flowering plants), the term ''locule'' usu ...
s) form first within the vegetative cells of the fungus and then all the subsequent structures form. These include the asci ASCI or Asci may refer to:
* Advertising Standards Council of India
* Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy
* Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative
* American Society for Clinical Investigation
* Argus Sour Crude Index
* Association of ...
which, superficially, have a thicker outer layer through which a thinner inner layer ‘bursts’, like a jack-in-a-box to release the spores. These asci are therefore referred to as bitunicate (superficially, two layers) or fissitunicate (referring to spore release). After several DNA sequence comparisons it is now clear that another group of fungi which share these characteristics are distantly related. These are the "black yeasts" in subclass Chaetothyriomycetidae (Eurotiomycetes
Eurotiomycetes is a large class of ascomycetes with cleistothecial ascocarps within the subphylum Pezizomycotina, currently containing around 3810 species according to the Catalogue of Life. It is the third largest lichenized class, with more ...
).plant pathogens
Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomyc ...
(like '' Phaeosphaeria nodorum'' and ''Venturia inaequalis
''Venturia inaequalis'' is an ascomycete fungus that causes the apple scab disease.
Systematics
''Venturia inaequalis'' anamorphs have been described under the names ''Fusicladium dendriticum'' and ''Spilocaea pomi''. Whether ''V. inaequalis'' i ...
''). However, a majority of described species are either found as endophyte
An endophyte is an endosymbiont, often a bacterium or fungus, that lives within a plant for at least part of its life cycle without causing apparent disease. Endophytes are ubiquitous and have been found in all species of plants studied to date; h ...
s or saprobes
Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...
growing on woody debris, decaying leaves or dung
Dung most often refers to animal feces. Dung may also refer to:
Science and technology
* Dry animal dung fuel
* Manure
* Cow dung
* Coprolite, fossilized feces
* Dung beetle
Art
* Mundungus Fletcher or "Dung", a character in the Harry Potter n ...
. A smaller number exist as lichens[ and a single species, '']Cenococcum geophilum
''Cenococcum geophilum'' Fr., synonym ''Cenococcum graniforme'' (Sow.) Ferd. and Winge, is an Ascomycete fungal species and is the only member in the genus ''Cenococcum''. It is one of the most common ectomycorrhizal fungal species encountered i ...
'', can form mycorrhizal associations with plant roots.[
]
See also
* List of Dothideomycetes taxa ''incertae sedis''
References
External links
Tree of Life Dothideomycetes
*
{{taxonbar, from=Q132159
Fungal plant pathogens and diseases
Fungus classes
Lichen classes
Taxa described in 1997