ascomycete

[as-kuh-mahy-seet, -mahy-seet]

noun

Mycology.

1. any fungus of the phylum Ascomycota (or class Ascomycetes), including the molds and truffles, characterized by bearing the sexual spores in a sac (as distinguished frombasidiomycete ).

ascomycete

/ ˌæskəmaɪˈsiːt /

noun

1. any fungus of the phylum Ascomycota (formerly class Ascomycetes ) in which the spores (ascospores) are formed inside a club-shaped cell (ascus). The group includes yeast, penicillium, aspergillus, truffles, and certain mildews

ascomycete

1. Any of various fungi belonging to the phylum Ascomycota, characterized by the presence of sexually produced spores formed within an ascus. Like most fungi, ascomycetes also reproduce asexually by the formation of nonsexual spores called conidia at the ends of filaments known as hyphae. Yeasts, many molds that cause food spoilage, and the edible fungi known as morels and truffles, are ascomycetes. A number of serious plant diseases, including ergot, the powdery mildews that attack fruit, and Dutch elm disease, are also caused by ascomycetes.

Other Word Forms

• ascomycetous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ascomycete¹

From New Latin, dating back to 1855–60; asco-, -mycete

Example Sentences

The plague that devastates humanity in “The Last of Us” can be traced back to a genus of ascomycete fungi known as cordyceps, which infects people’s brains, turning them into ferocious monsters.

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A classic ascus is sausage-shaped, like this one, which belongs to a tasty morel mushroom, a type of large ascomycete with a compound cup head.

Read more on Scientific American

That matters little for the fungus, but it mattered a great deal to some famous biologists who saw in the ascomycete Neurospora crassa a golden opportunity.

Read more on Scientific American