Learn about Deuteromycetes (Fungi Imperfecti), their characteristics, structure, reproduction, lifecycle, examples, and economic importance in fungi classification.
Deuteromycetes, fungi (kingdom Fungi) in which a true sexual state is uncommon or unknown. Many of these fungi reproduce asexually by spores (conidia or oidia) or by budding.
What are Deuteromycetes? Deuteromycetes, also referred to as Deuteromycota, Deuteromycotina, or fungi imperfecti, encompass a unique group within the Kingdom Fungi. Characterized by their primarily asexual mode of reproduction, these organisms are often called “imperfect fungi.”
These organisms, also known as mitosporic fungi, are placed in an artificial group called the Deuteromycota or the Fungi Imperfecti. They reproduce mitotically via conidia and are considered anamorphic partners of teleomorphs in the Ascomycota or Basidiomycota.
Deuteromycetes hold great economical importance. They act as decomposers of organic matter and play an important role in mineral recycling. They are also known as 'second class' fungi. Deuteromycetes are responsible for various plant diseases and cause the degradation of food.
Deuteromycetes, also called fungi imperfecti, are fungi in which the sexual stage has not been found yet. That is why they are known as imperfect fungi, deuteromicetos, or jamur deuteromycota. Earlier, scientists grouped deuteromycetes separately because there were no sexual spores produced.
There are about 25,000 species that have been classified in the division Deuteromycota and many are Basidiomycota or Ascomycota anamorphs. Fungi producing the antibiotic penicillin and those that cause athlete's foot and yeast infections are algal fungi.
Phylum Deuteromycota is a polyphyletic group of asexually-reproducing fungi that do not display a sexual phase; they are known as imperfect.
Salient Features of Deuteromycetes: (i) Deuteromycetes occur mostly as saprophytes on a wide range of substrates, but a large number of them are parasites on plants and animals (including humans) and cause a variety of diseases.