3.5: Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)

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A morel - a "mushroom" that forms a highly invaginated cone where spores are produced - growing in a garden — Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): A small sampling of the vast diversity of ascomycetes. Top left photo by SMWhite (*Morchella americana*), top right by Siburanlai (*Gibellula pulchra*), bottom left by Christian Schwarz (*Chlorociboria aeruginascens*), and bottom right by Riley Walsh (*Rhytisma americanum*). All photos licensed CC-BY-NC.

A spider covered with long white projections making spores — Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): A small sampling of the vast diversity of ascomycetes. Top left photo by SMWhite (*Morchella americana*), top right by Siburanlai (*Gibellula pulchra*), bottom left by Christian Schwarz (*Chlorociboria aeruginascens*), and bottom right by Riley Walsh (*Rhytisma americanum*). All photos licensed CC-BY-NC.

3.5.1: Characteristics
Shared characteristics found in Ascomycota
3.5.2: Types of Ascocarps
Fruiting bodies formed by sexual reproduction in Ascomycota are called ascocarps. There are three main types: apothecium, perithecium, and cleistothecium.
3.5.3: Life Cycle
Ascomycetes have a haplontic life cycle that produces dikaryotic hyphae. These hyphae will produce asci, where both karyogamy and meiosis take place.