Basidiomycota is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basidiomycota includes these groups: agarics, puffballs, stinkhorns, bracket fungi, other polypores, jelly fungi, boletes, chanterelles, earth stars, smuts, bunts, rusts, mirror yeasts, and Cryptococcus, the human pathogenic yeast.
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 defining feature of this fungal group is the "ascus", a microscopic sexual structure in which nonmotile spores, called ascospores, are formed. However, some species of Ascomycota are asexual and thus do not form asci or ascospores. Familiar examples of sac fungi include morels, truffles, brewers' and bakers' yeast, dead man's fingers, and cup fungi. The fungal symbionts in the majority of lichens such as Cladonia belong to the Ascomycota.
A mold or mould is one of the structures that certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not all fungi form molds. Some fungi form mushrooms; others grow as single cells and are called microfungi.
A hypha is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium.
A conidium, sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium, is an asexual, non-motile spore of a fungus. The word conidium comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, κόνις (kónis). They are also called mitospores due to the way they are generated through the cellular process of mitosis. They are produced exogenously. The two new haploid cells are genetically identical to the haploid parent, and can develop into new organisms if conditions are favorable, and serve in biological dispersal.
A fungus 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 one of the traditional eukaryotic kingdoms, along with Animalia, Plantae, and either Protista or Protozoa and Chromista.
Placopyrenium is a genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae.
Mycetophagites is an extinct fungal genus of mycoparasitic in the order Hypocreales. A monotypic genus, it contains the single species Mycetophagites atrebora.
Arthrobotrys dactyloides is a species of fungus in the family Orbiliaceae. It is nematophagous, forming loops of hypha to trap nematodes, on which it then feeds.
Penicillium spinulosum is a non-branched, fast-growing fungus with a swelling at the terminal of the stipe (vesiculate) in the genus Penicillium. P. spinulosum is able to grow and reproduce in environment with low temperature and low water availability, and is known to be acidotolerant. P. spinulosum is ubiquitously distributed, and can often be isolated from soil. Each individual strain of P. spinulosum differs from others in their colony morphology, including colony texture, amount of sporulation and roughness of conidia and conidiophores.
Biatoropsis is a genus of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungi of uncertain familial placement in the order Tremellales. It comprises 11 species that parasitise various species in the fruticose lichen genera Usnea and Protousnea.
Crittendenia is a genus of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungi in the monogeneric family Crittendeniaceae. The genus was circumscribed in 2021 to contain two species, C. lichenicola, and the type, C. coppinsii; these species were previously classified in the genus Chionosphaera. An additional 16 species were added to the genus the following year. The genus name honours British lichenologist Peter Crittenden.
Xenodevriesia strelitziicola is a pathogenic ascomycete fungus in the class Dothideomycetes that infects the South African plant Strelitzia. It is the only species of the monotypic genus Xenodevriesia and family Xenodevriesiaceae.
Meristacrum is a fungal genus in the monotypic family Meristacraceae, of the order Entomophthorales. They are parasites of soil invertebrates, they typically infect nematodes, and tardigrades.
Protocandelariella is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Candelariaceae. It has two species of squamulose (scaley), corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichens.
Racoleus is a genus of two species of lichen-forming fungi of uncertain familial placement in the order Capnodiales. Both species of Racoleus are filamentous lichens with Trentepohlia as the photobiont partner. The lichens form thalli in the form of felt-like, blackish-brown cushions that grow under shaded conditions on siliceous rocks.
Amerosporiopsis phaeographidis is a species of lichenicolous fungus in the subphylum Pezizomycotina. It grows as black spots on the lichen Phaeographis brasiliensis, from which it gets its name. It has only been found in one place in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in Florida in the United States. Molecular phylogenetics testing might reveal that this is actually a new genus, but it is morphologically similar to the one other species in Amerosporiopsis, except that it has wider conidia, has no conidiophores, and lives in a different habitat.
Sclerococcum toensbergii is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus in the family Sclerococcaceae. It is known from only a couple of collections made in the northwestern United States, and a collection in France. In the United States, it has been recorded on the bark-dwelling lichens Megalaria pulverea and Pertusaria carneopallida, while in France, it was found growing on Caloplaca cerina.
Psammina is a fungal genus in the division Ascomycota. The relationship of this taxon to other taxa within the division is unknown, and it has not yet been placed with certainty into any class, order, or family. The genus comprises fungi that inhabit various environments, growing on plants, algae, and lichens. These fungi are notable for their unique reproductive structures, which resemble tiny hands or palms when viewed under a microscope. Psammina species play diverse ecological roles: some form partnerships with algae to create lichens, others grow on existing lichens, and some can cause damage to their host organisms. The genus was first proposed in 1890 and currently includes ten recognised species. While Psammina fungi have been found mainly in Europe, with sightings in countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France, at least one species has been reported in Brazil, suggesting a potentially wider distribution.
Dictyocatenulata is a fungal genus of uncertain classification in the subclass Ostropomycetidae. It contains the single species Dictyocatenulata alba. Originally described in 1967 as a bark-dwelling fungus, it was later recognised as a lichen in 2004. The genus is characterised by its unique reproductive structures called synnemata, which are upright, stem-like formations that produce spores. D. alba has a widespread distribution, found in North and Central America, Asia, and Europe, typically growing on tree bark in humid forests. Recent molecular studies suggest that Dictyocatenulata may be closely related to the genus Thelenella, potentially representing an asexual stage of unknown Thelenella species. This lichen is distinguished by its thin, greenish thallus (body) and its spores, which are divided into many cells and arranged in chains, features that give the genus its name.
