Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: asco

#012: Characteristics of Phylum Ascomycota 16

Fungus Fact

#012: Characteristics of Phylum Ascomycota

Phylum Ascomycota includes about 75% of described fungal species.*  It includes the baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces ceriviciae, scientifically important fungi such as Neurospora crassa and Penicillium chrysogenum, a number of desirable edible mushrooms, most notably morels and truffles, most lichenized fungi, and many important plant pathogens, such as the causal agent of chestnut blight.  As you can tell from this list, the ascomycetes have a variety of life history strategies and ecological roles.  Many ascomycetes grow as hyphae, others grow as yeasts, and some can even switch between the two.  Some ascomycota only reproduce sexually, others only reproduce asexually, and many do both.  Ascomycetes can be saprophytic (they decompose non-living matter), parasitic (on plants, bugs, humans, etc.), or mutualistic (with algae, plants, or even beetles).  Ascomycota have provided us with penicillin and have helped scientists understand the cell cycle, meiosis, and heredity.  Despite this diversity, Ascomycota is a monophyletic group (it...

#005: Xylaria polymorpha, Dead Man’s Fingers [Archived] 2

Archived

#005: Xylaria polymorpha, Dead Man’s Fingers [Archived]

Note: this is an archived post. You can read the updated version here. October is Creepy Fungus Month on Fungus Fact Friday! To start this month I have chosen to highlight Xylaria polymorpha–Dead Man’s Fingers. When you look at this fungus’ fruiting bodies in the summer or fall it is easy to see how it got its common name.  The mushrooms are more or less straight, though often bent or warped.  Their exterior is black, wrinkled, and bumpy and becomes cracked with age.  The individual mushrooms often grow close together and may become fused at the bottom, forming a “hand” with several “fingers.”  X. polymorpha is a wood decomposer, but can often appear to grow from the ground when decomposing buried wood.  Thus, this mushroom often resembles a burnt, dead hand reaching out of the ground to grab unwitting passers-by and drag them down into the depths of the earth. ...