papulospores

[Peter Herman]

David Geiser <dgeiser at mendel.berkeley.edu> wrote:

>Another question is the phylogenetic placement of Papulaspora.  If
>it's aligned with the Plectomycetes,  then is it reasonable to
>suspect that the papulaspore is a modified cleistothecium?  If
>it is,  then I think we're back in the realm of homology.  I
>don't know of any molecular or other data on the subject.  The
>AInsworth and Bisby definition sounds like a young cleistothecium
>to me.

If the structure is asexual, there is no reason to suspect a 
modified cleistothecium.  The problem with sorting things out is 
the relative simplicity of fungal thalli.  If a fungus is 
producing a thick-walled resistant structure, be it sexual or 
asexual, there are a limited number of patterns it can follow to 
make such a structure from hyphae.  When you look at the cell 
arrangements and modifications involved in cleistothecia, 
parathecia, apothecia, pseudothecia, pycnidia, sclerotia and 
stromatic tissues, they can look quite similar, though the 
structures can vary a lot in gross appearance.

Peter