I know there are 15 classes of ascomycota and some general concepts, but not a lot about physiology of each one. Thanks for answer.
Hey Cristian,
Ascomycota along with Basidiomycota is one of the most dominant fungal phlya occuring in atmosphere and in the terrestrial region. Ascomycete physiology - I guess you want to know about its external morphological features?
If so, its called as the sac or cup fungus, mainly because of its appearance. The physiology of Ascomycota is majorly determined by its ascocarp ( sac or cup), its spore morphology and release and its habitat. Ascomycota could be both microfungi and macrofungi. Ascomycetes generally grow in the tree barks unlike the basidiomycetes that can grow both on ground and tree. The spores of ascomycetes are generally smaller in size ( 3 to max 8-10 micrometeres) compared to the basidiospores. Thus this enables them to stay aloft for a longer time and they also travel large distance. The ascospores are emitted by the "osmotic pressure cannons" whereas the Basidiospores are released by the "surface tension catapult" mechanism. And because of this the ascospores tend to occur in 4's or 8's. One another feature of the ascospores is the presence of 'attachment scar', which is unique feature of ascospores.
Hope this helps little bit...
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