Pucciniomycetes


The Pucciniomycetes are a class of fungi in the Pucciniomycotina subdivision of the Basidiomycota. The class contains 5 orders, 21 families, 190 genera, and 8016 species. It includes several important plant pathogens causing forms of fungal rust.

Characteristics

Pucciniomycetes develop no basidiocarp, karyogamy occurs in a thick-walled resting spore, and meiosis occurs upon germination of teliospore. They have simple septal pores without membrane caps and disc-like spindle pole bodies. Except for a few species, the basidia, when present, are transversally septate. Mannose is the major cell wall carbohydrate, glucose, fucose and rhamnose are the less prevalent neutral sugars and xylose is not present.