Ascomycetes
(Penicillium sp)
Sugandha Paul
Lecturer
Dept. of Microbiology, BUHS
What are Ascomycetes?
Fungus is a microorganism that includes microorganisms like yeast and
moulds to mushrooms that we find everywhere around us. Their anatomy
and working differs not only as per their physical features but also as per
their living and food habitats.
Ascomycete is also a type of fungus that is not only useful to modern
medicine but also to bakery and brewing industries. Phylum
Ascomycota together with Basidiomycota forms the subkingdom Dikarya.
This group possesses a sexual structure which is called ascopores,
produced in a sac like structures called as ascus. Penicillium, Candida,
Neurospora are some of the most useful organisms of this group.
Characteristics of Ascomycetes
Some of the most important characteristics of ascomycetes are:
• Ascomycetes have a very diverse living and feeding habitat. While some
ascomycetes are edible such as mushrooms, some live as lichens.
• Some of the ascomycetes are saprophytes while some are pathogens.
• The presence of a reproductive structure called ascus is the most common
characteristic among these groups.
• The cell walls in these groups are composed of chitin or glucans.
• The mycelium is commonly made of septate hyphae.
• As they are morphologically diverse in nature we can find unicellular yeast
to complex multicellular fungi in the group.
Characteristics of Ascomycetes
• Generally all ascomycetes are terrestrial, parasitic or coprophilous.
Though some ascomycetes have adapted to the freshwater or marine
enviornments.
• The septal walls provide cytoplasmic continuity, due to presence of septal
pores, throughout the individual hyphae.
• The formation of conidia exogenously on conidiophores is the process by
which asexual reproduction is done in these groups.
• In Ascomycetes, sexual reproduction is by conjugation between two
gametangia. Now, they are either homothallic or heterothallic.
• The fruiting body, in ascomycetes, is called ascocarp. There are four
types of ascocarp present - cleistothecium, perithecium, apothecium
and ascostroma.
Examples of Ascomycetes
Some of the significant members of the species ascomycetes are:
• Baker's Yeast
• Cup Fungi
• Brewer's Yeast
• Dead Man's Finger
• Morales
• Truffles
• Aspergillus
• Cladonia
• Claviceps
• Penicillium
• Candida
• Neurospora
Ascocarp
• Ascocarp refers to a fruiting structure of fungi.
The plural form is called ascomata. There are
four types of ascocarp as mentioned below:
• Cleistothecium: It is globose structured
meaning it is completely closed with no
openings.
• Perithecium: It is a flask shaped fruity body
with an opening in a form of pore.
• Apothecium: It is a fleshy fruiting body with a
wide saucer shaped or cup shaped opening.
• Pseudothecium: It is similar to Perithecium. It
is double wall structured and expands to take
water.
Reproduction in Ascomycetes
Ascomycetes reproduce by both sexual and asexual methods. Mentioned below are the details:
• Asexual Reproduction: The process of asexual reproduction in ascomycetes is very similar to fungi and is done
by budding or formation of multinucleated conidia. This process of asexual reproduction allows fungus to multiply
far quickly than through sexual reproduction. Conidia are formed by the cells formed at the tip of modified
hyphae and are called conidiogenous cells.
• Sexual Reproduction: Ascus is the place where in all the sexual process occurs and thus sexual reproduction
in ascomycetes occurs only in those with ascii. Mentioned below is the process:
• In sexual reproduction, two different gametes combine. In some species, the second gamete comes from
another fungi.
• After the fusion of gametes, plasmogamy takes place followed by karyogamy.
• The fused structure contains dikaryon. The new hyphae is formed by these dikaryotic cells.
• After this karyogamy occurs forming a diploid zygote.
• The diploid zygote undergoes meiosis and forms 4 haploid nuclei and then 8 haploid nuclei.
• Cytoplasm accumulates in each of these nuclei and a thick cell wall surrounds it. These are known as
Ascospores.
• Now these ascospores are released from asci which under favourable conditions germinate to form new mycelia.
Reproduction in Ascomycetes
Economic Importance of Ascomycetes
• Because of their diverse habitat, ascomycetes provide us with many
useful products like food, medicine and chemical products. Some of the
facts indicating economic importance of ascomycetes are:
• Baking and brewing industry entirely depends on yeast for
fermentation.
• Many enzymes and organic acids are produced by ascomycetes, like
gluconic acid, citric acid etc.
• Ascomycetes are also used in the preparation of different types of
cheese using different penicillium species like brie, camembert etc.
• Soya sauce is prepared using aspergillus. It is also used in making
other alcoholic beverages.
• Penicillin is also made through penicillium chrysogenum.
Basidiomycetes
Basidiomycetes
Mushrooms
Edible Mushrooms
Poisonous Mushrooms
Deuteromycetes
Deuteromycotina
Subkingdom: Mycota
Division: Eumycota
Sub-division: Deuteromycotina
• G.C. Ainsworth’s system of classification
includes Deuteromycotina which is a
subdivision under Eumycota
• It is also known as Fungi Imperfecti as it lacks
a perfect or a sexual stage and also asexual
fungi, anamorphic fungi, and conidial fungi.
• It has around 17 000 species.
• These are non-motile structures.
General Characteristics
• It is a polyphyletic group where many species are closely related to organisms in other
phyla like in Ascomycotina and Basidiomycota and hence it is not a true phylum.
• They might be terrestrial or aquatic.
• In a fungus that has both an ascus (or basidium) stage and a conidial one, the former is
known as the ‘perfect’ and the latter as the ‘imperfect’ state. This is why these fungi are
commonly called Fungi Imperfecti.
• Also, it may happen that the fungi might have more than one imperfect stage.
• Members of these classes might have septate mycelium.
• The mycelium might be inter or intracellular having many nuclei
• Hyphae might be a heterokaryotic type.
• The reproduction mostly occurs by conidia, however, a few are purely mycelial,
developing no spores.
• Sexual reproduction is absent in these members.
Classification
It is divided into 3 classes.
• Blastomycetes- It majorly forms single yeast-like cells from budding.
• Hyphomycetes- This group contains the fungal species which have
the potential as microbial insecticides. This has naked conidia.
• Coelomycetes- The fruiting structures might be spherical with an
apical opening or saucer-shaped. The production of conidia takes
place within the fruiting body.
Economical Importance
• The food industry like the cheese industries uses these members for ripening
purposes.
• The blue veins in Roquefort cheese and the white crust on Camembert are
the results of fungal growth.
• It has also contributed to the discovery of the antibiotic penicillin.
• These are a cause of a few diseases in both plants and humans and are also
known to be the producers of potentially toxic compounds, like aflatoxins
released by fungi Aspergillus.
