Editing Ascomycota (section)

==Characteristics of ascomycetes==

* Ascomycota are morphologically diverse. The group includes organisms from unicellular yeasts to complex cup fungi.
* 98% of [[lichens]] have an Ascomycota as the fungal part of the lichen.<ref>{{cite book | last = McCoy | first = Peter | title = Radical Mycology | year = 2016 | publisher = Chthaeus Press | language = en |url=https://archive.org/details/radicalmicologytexts | isbn =9780986399602 }}</ref>
* There are 2000 identified genera and 30,000 species of Ascomycota.
* The unifying characteristic among these diverse groups is the presence of a reproductive structure known as the {{Em|ascus}}, though in some cases it has a reduced role in the life cycle.
* Many ascomycetes are of commercial importance. Some play a beneficial role, such as the yeasts used in baking, brewing, and wine fermentation, plus truffles and morels, which are held as gourmet delicacies.
* Many of them cause tree diseases, such as Dutch elm disease and apple blights.
* Some of the plant pathogenic ascomycetes are apple scab, rice blast, the ergot fungi, black knot, and the powdery mildews.
* The yeasts are used to produce alcoholic beverages and breads. The mold ''Penicillium'' is used to produce the antibiotic penicillin.
* Almost half of all members of the phylum Ascomycota form {{Em|symbiotic}} associations with algae to form lichens.
* Others, such as morels (a highly prized edible fungi), form important {{Em|mycorrhizal}} relationships with plants, thereby providing enhanced water and nutrient uptake and, in some cases, protection from insects.
* Most ascomycetes are terrestrial or parasitic.  However, some have adapted to marine or freshwater environments. As of 2015, there were 805 [[marine fungi]] in the Ascomycota, distributed among 352 genera.<ref name="Jones et al. 2015"/>
* The cell walls of the hyphae are variably composed of [[chitin]] and [[Beta-glucan|β-glucans]], just as in Basidiomycota.  However, these fibers are set in a matrix of glycoprotein containing the sugars galactose and mannose.
* The mycelium of ascomycetes is usually made up of [[Hypha#Classification based on cell division|septate hyphae]].  However, there is not necessarily any fixed number of nuclei in each of the divisions.
* The septal walls have septal pores which provide cytoplasmic continuity throughout the individual hyphae.  Under appropriate conditions, nuclei may also migrate between septal compartments through the septal pores.
* A unique character of the Ascomycota (but not present in all ascomycetes) is the presence of [[Woronin bodies]] on each side of the septa separating the hyphal segments which control the septal pores.  If an adjoining hypha is ruptured, the Woronin bodies block the pores to prevent loss of cytoplasm into the ruptured compartment.  The Woronin bodies are spherical, hexagonal, or rectangular membrane bound structures with a crystalline protein matrix.