The Taphrinomycotina are one of three subdivisions constituting the Ascomycota (fungi that form their spores in a sac-like ascus) and is more or less synonymous with the slightly older invalid name Archiascomycetes (sometimes spelled Archaeascomycetes; archea = ancient). Recent molecular studies suggest that the group is monophyletic and basal to the rest of the Ascomycota.[2][3]
The Taphrinomycetes are dimorphic plant parasites (e.g. Taphrina) with both a yeast state and a filamentous (hyphal) state in infected plants. They characteristically infect leaves, catkins, and branches, not roots. Taphrinomycetes form asci but no ascomata.
The Neolectomycetes are species in a single genus, Neolecta, which are the only members of the subdivision that form ascomata (fruiting bodies), and which specifically grow out of root tips. They may have a yeast state (ascospores bud in the asci). [citation needed]
The Pneumocystidomycetes also encompasses only one genus of yeasts, Pneumocystis, one of which causes Pneumocystis pneumonia in humans by developing cysts on the lung tissue.
^Eriksson, O.E. & K. Winka (1997). "Supraordinal taxa of Ascomycota". Myconet. 1: 1–16.
^Lutzoni, F.; et al. (2004). "Assembling the fungal tree of life: progress, classification, and evolution of subcellular traits". Am. J. Bot. 91 (10): 1446–1480. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1446. PMID21652303.
