Taphrinomycotina

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iTaphrinomycotina
Peach tree (Prunus persica) attacked by Taphrina deformans
Peach tree (Prunus persica) attacked by Taphrina deformans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Subdivision: Taphrinomycotina
Classes

Neolectomycetes
Pneumocystidomycetes
Schizosaccharomycetes
Taphrinomycetes

Taphrinomycotina is a subdivision of the Ascomycota (fungi which form their spores in a sac-like ascus) and is more or less the same thing as the older taxon Archaeascomycetes. They are characterized by the fact that:

  1. their cells reproduce by fission rather than budding - they are not yeasts like the Saccharomycotina - and
  2. they have no ascocarps (fruiting bodies), their asci being 'naked' in a regular layer (exception: genus Neolecta has a macroscopic ascocarp, but with a structure distinct from that of the Pezizomycotina). None of them, not even Neolecta, have Ascogenous hyphae giving rise to the asci.

They are all plant parasites and they cause some diseases such as Peach Leaf Curl (Taphrina deformans).

According to modern molecular studies, the monophyly of Taphrinomycotina is questionable (they are probably paraphyletic). In other words they are grouped together due to superficial similarities (and because they do not fit in the other better-defined subdivisions), but they are not really closely related. For that reason, the Taphrinomycete classes are sometimes referred to as Ascomycota classes incertae sedis - it is not known how they should be classified to reflect their actual evolutionary history.

[edit] Reference

  1. The Oregon Coalition of Interdisciplinary Databases: "Archiascomycetes: Early Diverging Ascomycetes"
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