page_title: Ascomycota
section_title: Beneficial effects for humans
hierarchical_section_title: Ascomycota / Ecology / Beneficial effects for humans
caption_attribution_description: English: Blue Stilton PDO Cheese, one quarter of a half loaf
context_page_description: Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defining feature of this fungal group is the "ascus", a microscopic sexual structure in which nonmotile spores, called ascospores, are formed. However, some species of the Ascomycota are asexual, meaning that they do not have a sexual cycle and thus do not form asci or ascospores. Familiar examples of sac fungi include morels, truffles, brewer's yeast and baker's yeast, dead man's fingers, and cup fungi. The fungal symbionts in the majority of lichens such as Cladonia belong to the Ascomycota.
  Ascomycota is a monophyletic group. Previously placed in the Deuteromycota along with asexual species from other fungal taxa, asexual ascomycetes are now identified and classified based on morphological or physiological similarities to ascus-bearing taxa, and by phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences.
context_section_description: On the other hand, ascus fungi have brought some important benefits to humanity.
  The most famous case may be that of the mould Penicillium chrysogenum (formerly Penicillium notatum), which, probably to attack competing bacteria, produces an antibiotic that, under the name of penicillin, triggered a revolution in the treatment of bacterial infectious diseases in the 20th century.
  The medical importance of Tolypocladium niveum as an immunosuppressor can hardly be exaggerated. It excretes Ciclosporin, which, as well as being given during Organ transplantation to prevent rejection, is also prescribed for auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, although there is some doubt over the long-term side-effects of the treatment.
  Some ascomycete fungi can be altered relatively easily through genetic engineering procedures. They can then produce useful proteins such as insulin, human growth hormone, or TPa, which is employed to dissolve blood clots.
  Several species are common model organisms in biology, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and Neurospora crassa. The genomes of a number of ascomycete fungi have been fully sequenced.
  Baker's Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is used to make bread, beer and wine, during which process sugars such as glucose or sucrose are fermented to make ethanol and carbon dioxide. Bakers use the yeast for carbon dioxide production, causing the bread to rise, with the ethanol boiling off during cooking. Most vintners use it for ethanol production, with the carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere during fermentation. Brewers and traditional producers of sparkling wine use both, with a primary fermentation for the alcohol and a secondary one to produce the carbon dioxide bubbles that provide the drinks with "sparkling" texture in the case of wine and the desirable foam in the case of beer.
  Enzymes of Penicillium camemberti play a role in the manufacture of the cheeses Camembert and Brie, while those of Penicillium roqueforti do the same for Gorgonzola, Roquefort and Stilton.
  In Asia, Aspergillus oryzae is added to a pulp of soaked soya beans to make soy sauce, and is used to break down starch in rice and other grains into simple sugars for fermentation into East Asian alcoholic beverages such as huangjiu and sake.
  Finally, some members of the Ascomycota are choice edibles; morels (Morchella spp.), truffles (Tuber spp.), and lobster mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum) are some of the most sought-after fungal delicacies.
caption: Stilton cheese veined with Penicillium roqueforti
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