Pezizomycotina make up most of the Ascomycota fungi and include most lichenized fungi too. Pezizomycotina contains the filamentous ascomycetes and is a subdivision of 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 largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defi ...

(fungi that form their spores in a sac-like ''ascus''). It is more or less synonymous with the older taxon Euascomycota. These fungi reproduce by fission rather than budding and this subdivision includes almost all the ascus fungi that have fruiting bodies visible to the naked eye (exception: genus ''

Neolecta ''Neolecta'' is a genus of ascomycetous fungi that have fruiting bodies in the shape of unbranched to lobed bright yellowish, orangish to pale yellow-green colored, club-shaped, smooth, fleshy columns up to about 7 cm tall. The species shar ...

'', which belongs to the

Taphrinomycotina The Taphrinomycotina are one of three subdivisions constituting the Ascomycota (fungi that form their spores in a sac-like ascus) and is more or less synonymous with the slightly older invalid name Archiascomycetes (sometimes spelled Archaeascomy ...

). See the taxobox for a list of the classes that make up the Pezizomycotina. The old class Loculoascomycetes (consisting of all the

bitunicate 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 ...

Ascomycota) has been replaced by the two classes Eurotiomycetes and

Dothideomycetes Dothideomycetes is the largest and most diverse class of ascomycete fungi. It comprises 11 orders 90 families, 1300 genera and over 19,000 known species. Traditionally, most of its members were included in the loculoascomycetes, which is not pa ...

. The rest of the Pezizomycotina also include the previously defined hymenial groups Discomycetes (now

Leotiomycetes The Leotiomycetes are a class of ascomycete fungi. Many of them cause serious plant diseases. Systematics The class Leotiomycetes contains numerous species with an anamorph placed within the ''fungi imperfecti'' (deuteromycota), that have only ...

) and Pyrenomycetes (

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 hab ...

). Some important groups in Pezizomycotina include:

Pezizomycetes Pezizomycetes are a class of fungi within the division Ascomycota. Pezizomycetes are apothecial fungi, meaning that their spore-producing/releasing bodies ( ascoma) are typically disk-like, bearing on their upper surfaces a layer of cylindrical ...

(the operculate discomycetes),

(the inoperculate discomycetes),

Laboulbeniomycetes The Laboulbeniomycetes are a unique group of fungi that are obligatorily associated with arthropods, either as external parasites (Herpomycetales and Laboulbeniales) or for dispersal ( Pyxidiophorales). Herpomycetales and Laboulbeniales fungi ...

. ''

Paleopyrenomycites ''Paleopyrenomycites'' is a Devonian genus of fungus of uncertain phylogenetic affinity within the Pezizomycotina total group, known from the Rhynie chert The Rhynie chert is a Lower Devonian sedimentary deposit exhibiting extraordinary fos ...

'' from the

Early Devonian The Early Devonian is the first of three epochs comprising the Devonian period, corresponding to the Lower Devonian series. It lasted from and began with the Lochkovian Stage , which was followed by the Pragian from and then by the Emsian, ...

Rhynie Chert The Rhynie chert is a Lower Devonian sedimentary deposit exhibiting extraordinary fossil detail or completeness (a Lagerstätte). It is exposed near the village of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; a second unit, the Windyfield chert, is located ...

is the oldest known fossil member of Pezizomycotina, although its position within this subdivision is unclear.

References

External links

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Tree of Life – Pezizomycotina

Paleos Opisthokont subphyla {{Ascomycetes-stub