Microascales

Sordariomycetes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Subdivision:	Pezizomycotina
Class:	Sordariomycetes
Subclass:	Hypocreomycetidae
Order:	Microascales Luttr. ex Benny & Kimbr.
Families
Chadefaudiellaceae Halosphaeriaceae Microascaceae

The Microascales are an order of fungi in the Sordariomycetes class, subclass Hypocreomycetidae. This is a relatively small order of mostly saprobic fungi that live in soil, rotting vegetation and dung. Some species are plant pathogens, such as Ceratocystis fimbriata, transmitted by beetles to living trees and causing cacao wilt and many other economically important diseases. Species in the genus Pseudallescheria (family Microascaceae) are pathogenic to humans, for example, Pseudoallescheria boydii can cause allergic bronchopulmonary disease.^[1]

Description

The Microascales are characterized by a lack of stroma, black perithecial ascomata with long necks or rarely with cleistothecial ascomata that lack paraphyses. The have roughly spherical and short-lived asci that develop singly or in chains. Nonseptate, colorless ascospores often have ornamenting ridges or wings. The anamorphs of the Microascaceae family produce percurrently proliferating conidiogenous cells (annellides) and sometimes chlamydospore-like or aleurioconidial synanamorphs; these are classified mostly in the genera Scopulariopsis, Graphium and Scedosporium.^[2]

References

1. ^ Lake FR, Tribe AE, McAleer R, Froudist J, Thompson PJ. (1990). "Mixed allergic bronchopulmonary fungal disease due to Pseudallescheria boydii and Aspergillus". Thorax 45 (6): 489–91. doi:10.1136/thx.45.6.489. PMC 462540. PMID 2392795. http://thorax.bmj.com/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=2392795. 
2. ^ Abbott SP, Sigler L, Currah RS., Sean P.; Sigler, Lynne; Currah, R. S (1998). "Microascus brevicaulis sp. nov., the teleomorph of Scopuariopsis brevicaulis, supports placement of Scopulariopsis with the Microascaceae". Mycologia 90 (2): 297–302. doi:10.2307/3761306. JSTOR 3761306.