What Are Deuteromycetes?

There are also known as imperfect fungi. This hetrogenous group includes all such fungi in which sexual phase has not been observed.

Most of them are related to their sexually reproducing relatives of ascomycetes; however some are related to other two phyla (zygomycetes, basidomycota) as well.

If sexual structures are found on an imperfect fungus, it is then reassigned to the appropriate phylum.

Biologist now can classify most imperfect fungi on the basis of DNA sequence, though sexual structures may not be found.

Despite absence of sexual reproduction, imperfect fungi show special kind of genetic recombination, called parasexuality,in which portions of chromosomes of two nuclei lying in the same hypae are exchanged.Penicillum are wide spread saprotrophic species common on decaying fruit, bread etc. Its hypae are septate.Penicillum reproduces sexually by means of naked spores called conidia. These are found in chains at the tip of special hyphae called conidiophores, which are branched. Brush like arrangement of its conidia is the characteristic of Penicillium.

Add Comment

Report