Deuteromycota

A phylum in which the sexual (teleomorph or perfect) part of the life cycle has not been discovered; only the asexual (anamorph or imperfect) part of the life cycle has been found. SEE ALSO: Fungi Imperfecti.

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Deu·ter·o·my·co·ta -.mī-'kōt-ə n pl a division of fungi comprising the imperfect fungi when they are considered a division

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Deu·tero·my·co·ta (doo″tər-o-mi-koґtə) the imperfect fungi (Fungi Imperfecti), a large, heterogeneous group ordinarily treated as a phylum, distinguished by having no known sexual stage; in many cases the sexual stage is later discovered and can be shown to be an ascomycete or basidiomycete. This group includes many pathogenic fungi. Deuteromycota are subclassified into form-classes, form-orders, and so on. For some fungi the name of the asexual stage is retained even though the sexual stage has been identified, so that the fungus has a different name for each stage of its life cycle; in such cases the name of the sexual stage is used to refer to the fungus in all its states. Some authorities consider this group a subphylum of the Eumycota and call it Deuteromycotina; others consider it a class and call it Deuteromycetes.