title: A reassessment of cleistothecia as a taxonomic character.
abstract: The morphology of sexual fruit bodies has been historically regarded as a key character in fungal taxonomy. In the 1970s the class Plectomycetes was recognized in order to classify the cleistothecial ascomycetes. However, recent analysis of DNA sequencing data concerning the phylogeny of numerous cleistothecial ascomycetes confirmed that the criterion of the production of closed ascomata without a predefined opening and with an irregular arrangement of the asci at the centrum is of little systematic value, as pointed out by different authors on the basis of morphological studies.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Microbiologia, Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, C/Sant Llorenç 21, 43201 Reus, Spain. albertomiguel.stchigel@urv.cat
authors.forename: Alberto M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Stchigel
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guarro
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D048690:Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / Q000166:cytology*; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal