Eurotiomycetes is a large

class Class, Classes, 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 d ...

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 def ...

s with cleistothecial ascocarps within the subphylum Pezizomycotina, currently containing around 3810 species according to the

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxono ...

. It is the third largest

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

ized class, with more than 1200 lichen species that are mostly bitunicate in the formation of asci. It contains most of the fungi previously known morphologically as " Plectomycetes".

Systematics and phylogeny

Internal relationships

The class Eurotiomycetes was circumscribed in 1997 by Swedish mycologists Ove Erik Eriksson and Katarina Winka. At that time it only contained the order Eurotiales, which together with the next order added,

Onygenales The Onygenales are an order of fungi in the class Eurotiomycetes and division Ascomycota. The order's last common ancestor is estimated to have lived 150 million years ago. Onygenales can consume and break down keratin, the main component of t ...

, form a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

group comprising most of the fungi in "Plectomycetes", a group no longer in use that unified fungi under exclusively morphological characteristics. As more orders were added to Eurotiomycetes, the first two along with Arachnomycetales became constrained to the first subclass, Eurotiomycetidae. In 2001, the second subclass, Chaetothyriomycetidae, was erected to accommodate Chaetothyriales and its sister group Verrucariales, as well as Pyrenulales since 2004. These two remain as the major subclasses of Eurotiomycetes. The remaining subclasses were created through more phylogenetic analyses to accommodate outlying

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

or newly discovered groups: Mycocaliciomycetidae in 2007, Coryneliomycetidae and Sclerococcomycetidae in 2016, and lastly Cryptocaliciomycetidae in 2021. The following cladogram shows the relationships between all Eurotiomycetes orders and

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

subclasses as of 2021:

External relationships

The class Eurotiomycetes forms a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

with Lecanoromycetes, the largest lichenized class of fungi.

Taxonomy

As of 2022, the taxonomy of Eurotiomycetes recognizes 5 subclasses, 10 orders, 34 families and 289 valid genera. The families are listed here followed by the number of

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. :Subclass Chaetothyriomycetidae ::Order Chaetothyriales :::Family Chaetothyriaceae – 19 genera :::Family Coccodiniaceae – 4 genera :::Family Cyphellophoraceae – 2 genera :::Family Epibryaceae – 1 genus :::Family Herpotrichiellaceae – 17 genera :::Family Lyrommataceae – 1 genus :::Family Microtheliopsidaceae – 1 genus :::Family Paracladophialophoraceae – 1 genus :::Family Pyrenotrichaceae – 2 genera :::Family Trichomeriaceae (= Strelitzianaceae ) – 9 genera ::: Chaetothyriales ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' – 11 genera ::Order Phaeomoniellales :::Family Celotheliaceae (= Phaeomoniellaceae ) – 11 genera ::Order Pyrenulales :::Family Pyrenulaceae – 12 genera ::: Pyrenulales ''

'' – 2 genera ::Order Verrucariales :::Family Adelococcaceae – 3 genera :::Family Sarcopyreniaceae – 1 genera :::Family Verrucariaceae – 52 genera ::: Verrucariales ''

'' – 4 genera :: Chaetothyriomycetidae ''

'' :::Family Rhynchostomataceae – 2 genera :Subclass Cryptocaliciomycetidae ::Order Cryptocaliciales :::Family Cryptocaliciaceae – 1 genus :Subclass Coryneliomycetidae ::Order Coryneliales :::Family Coryneliaceae – 8 genera :::Family Eremascaceae – 2 genera :Subclass Eurotiomycetidae ::Order Arachnomycetales :::Family Arachnomycetaceae – 2 genera ::Order Eurotiales :::Family Aspergillaceae (= Monascaceae ) – 14 genera :::Family Elaphomycetaceae – 2 genera :::Family Penicillaginaceae – 1 genus :::Family Thermoascaceae – 2 genera :::Family Trichocomaceae – 9 genera ::Order

:::Family Ajellomycetaceae – 7 genera :::Family Arthrodermataceae – 11 genera :::Family Ascosphaeraceae – 3 genera :::Family Gymnoascaceae – 11 genera :::Family Nannizziopsidaceae – 1 genus :::Family

Onygenaceae The Onygenaceae are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota 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 ...

– 34 genera :::Family Spiromastigaceae – 4 genera :::

'' – 3 genera :: Eurotiomycetidae ''

'' – 5 genera :Subclass Mycocaliciomycetidae ::Order Mycocaliciales :::Family Mycocaliciaceae (= Sphinctrinaceae ) – 7 genera :Subclass Sclerococcomycetidae ::Order Sclerococcales :::Family Dactylosporaceae (= Sclerococcaceae ) – 7 genera Only one genus, '' Neocladophialophora'', remains ''

'' within the class.

Nomenclature

The scientific classification for this particular class is particularly tricky, with one particular species having both the anamorph (asexual form), and teleomorph (sexual form) names used in reference to them. *e.g. anamorph form = ''

Penicillium ''Penicillium'' () is a genus of Ascomycota, ascomycetous fungus, fungi that is part of the mycobiome of many species and is of major importance in the natural environment, in food spoilage, and in food and drug production. Some members of th ...

''; teleomorph form = '' Talaromyces'' or Eupenicillium.

Morphology

Many members (Eurotiales, Onygenales) produce an enclosed structure cleistothecium within which they produce their spores.

References

External links

Outline of Ascomycota - 2007
{{Authority control Eurotiomycetes Fungus classes Lichen classes Taxa described in 1997