ASCOMYCETES and things about Ascomycetes that you should know…..

A. ASCOMYCETES AND FOODS

1. The best edible hypogeous (underground) Ascomycete: Truffles

2. The best edible epigeous Ascomycete: Morels

3. The most poisonous Ascomycete that some people collect: False Morel, Gyromitra esculenta

4. The fungus that causes soft rot of stone fruits, like peaches: Monilinia fructigena

5. The common fungus that infects peanuts: Aspergillus flavus

6. The fungus used in making blue cheese: Pencillium roquerfortii

7. The truffle used in making pate de fois gras: Tuber melanosporum, the Perigord black truffle

8. The yeast that allows bread to rise: Saccharomyces cervesiae

9. The yeast that ferments most alcoholic beverages: Saccharomyces cervesiae

10. The fungus that causes noble rot of grapes, used in making some sweet wines: Botrytis cinerea

B. ASCOMYCETES and MEDICINE

1. An Ascomycete known as an aphrodisiac, at least for the female of a mammal other than human: Tuber (truffle)

2. One fungus that causes Athlete’s Foot:  Epidermophyton floccosum

3. The fungus that causes yeast infection: Candida albicans

4. The fungus that was the original source of Cyclosporin, the medicine used to prevent rejection of transplanted organs: Elaphocordyceps subsessilis (anamorph: Tolypocladium inflatum)

5. The fungus used in migraine medications; original source of LSD: Ergot (Claviceps purpurea)

ASCOMYCETES and PLANT DISEASES

1. Chestnut blight fungus: Cryphonectria parasitica

2. Dutch Elm Disease fungus: Ostiostroma ulmi

3. Black Know of Cherry fungus: Apiosporina morbosa

4. Apple-scab fungus: Venturia inaequalis

5. Family of fungi causing Powdery Mildew: Erysiphaceae

ASCOMYCETE ECOLOGY

1. One hypogeous Ascomycete: Elaphomyces

2. One endophytic (inside plants) Ascomycete: Epichloe

3. One ectomycorrhizal Ascomycete: Tuber (truffle)

4. One Ascomycete lichen: British Soldiers (Cladonia cristatella)

5. One Ascomycete on wood: Daldinia concentrica

6. One Ascomycete on dung: Ascobolus

7. One Ascomycete parasitic on an animal: Cordyceps militaris

8. One Ascomycete parasitic on a plant: Apiosporina morbosa

9. One Ascomycete parasitic on another Ascomycete: Elaphocordyceps capitata on Elaphomyces americanum

10. One Ascomycete parasitic on a Basidiomycete: Hypomyces lactifluorum on Russula brevipes