Dothideomycetes

Black Molds and Leaf Spot Fungi

2 genera · 2 species

The largest and most diverse class of Ascomycota (Pezizomycotina). Its members typically have dark, melanized hyphae and spores, and they form their asci inside cavities in a stroma (ascolocular development) with two-layered (bitunicate) asci. The class includes many plant pathogens, saprotrophs and endophytes, and several of the most common airborne molds, such as Cladosporium and Epicoccum, which turn up as contaminants of agar, grain spawn and stored substrate.