The Coniochaetales are an
order of
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
within the class
Sordariomycetes
Sordariomycetes is a class of fungi in the subdivision Pezizomycotina (Ascomycota), consisting of 28 orders, 90 families, 1344 genera. Sordariomycetes is from the Latin sordes (filth) because some species grow in animal feces, though growth habi ...
.
This order is
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 "unispe ...
and contains a single family, the
Coniochaetaceae, historically placed in the order
Sordariales
The order Sordariales is one of the most diverse taxonomic groups within the Sordariomycetes (subdivision Pezizomycotina, division Ascomycota).
Species in the order Sordariales have a broad range of ecological diversity, containing lignicolous, ...
.
However, this
taxonomic placement has been challenged by other authorities, and the Coniochaetales was proposed to include the family
Coniochaetaceae.
Species in this family are characterized by having germ-slits in the
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 or ...
s, a
morphological feature that distinguishes them from species in the
Sordariaceae.
Phylogenetic research in 2006 revealed that four genera in the family Coniochaetaceae, ''Coniochaeta'', ''Coniochaetidium'', ''Ephemeroascus'', and ''Poroconiochaeta'', were not
monophyletic, and were all made synonymous with ''
Coniochaeta''.
References
Ascomycota orders
{{Sordariomycetes-stub