''Thermoascus'' 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 soil

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

Trichocomaceae The Trichocomaceae are a family of fungi in the order Eurotiales. Taxa are saprobes with aggressive colonization strategies, adaptable to extreme environmental conditions. Family members are cosmopolitan in distribution, ubiquitous in soil, and ...

. Species in the genus are characterized by the production of heat-resistant

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. ''Thermoascus'' was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

by German botanist Hugo Miehe in 1907. 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 ...

, '' Thermoascus aurantiacus'', is of research interest because it secretes heat-resistant

hydrolase In biochemistry, hydrolases constitute a class of enzymes that commonly function as biochemical catalysts that use water to break a chemical bond: :\ce \quad \xrightarrowtext\quad \ce This typically results in dividing a larger molecule into s ...

enzymes that could possibly be used in biotechnological applications, such as the conversion of

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...

s. Genetic tools have been developed to genetically edit '' Thermoascus aurantiacus'', such as an ''Agrobacterium tumefaciens''-mediated transformation protocol and a CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system, which have been used to overexpress genes that correspond to production of enzymes that break down plant matter and inactivate genes.

Species

*''

Thermoascus aegyptiacus ''Thermoascus aegyptiacus'' is a species of fungus in the genus '' Thermoascus'' in the order of Eurotiales The Eurotiales are an order of sac fungi, also known as the green and blue molds. It was circumscribed in 1980. Classification Curre ...

'' S. Ueda & Udagawa (1983) *'' Thermoascus aurantiacus'' Miehe (1907) *'' Thermoascus crustaceus'' (Apinis & Chesters) Stolk (1965) *'' Thermoascus taitungiacus'' K.Y.Chen & Z.C.Chen (1996) *'' Thermoascus thermophilus'' (Sopp) Arx (1970) *'' Thermoascus verrucosus'' (Samson & Tansey) Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson (2020) *'' Thermoascus yaguchii'' (Samson & Tansey) Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson (2020) Another described species, '' Thermoascus isatschenkoi'' Malchevskaya (1939),Page ''Thermoascus isatschenkoi'' on is considered doubtful due to a lack of examinable material and an incomprehensive description.

References

Thermoascaceae Eurotiomycetes genera Taxa described in 1907 {{Eurotiomycetes-stub