phycomycetes

3 definitions found

phycomycetes - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Fungi \Fun"gi\ (f[u^]n"j[imac]), n. pl.; sing. fungus. (Biol.)
     A group of thallophytic plant-like organisms of low
     organization, destitute of chlorophyll, in which reproduction
     is mainly accomplished by means of asexual spores, which are
     produced in a great variety of ways, though sexual
     reproduction is known to occur in certain Phycomycetes, or
     so-called algal fungi. They include the molds, mildews,
     rusts, smuts, mushrooms, toadstools, puff balls, and the
     allies of each. In the two-kingdom classification system they
     were classed with the plants, but in the modern five-kingdom
     classification, they are not classed as plants, but are
     classed in their own separate kingdom fungi, which includes
     the phyla Zygomycota (including simple fungi such as bread
     molds), Ascomycota (including the yeasts), Basidiomycota
     (including the mushrooms, smuts, and rusts), and
     Deuteromycota (the fungi imperfecti). Some of the forms,
     such as the yeasts, appear as single-celled microorganisms,
     but all of the fungi are are eukaryotic, thus distinguishing
     them from the prokaryotic microorganisms of the kingdon
     Monera.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
  
     Note: The Fungi appear to have originated by degeneration
           from various alg[ae], losing their chlorophyll on
           assuming a parasitic or saprophytic life. In an earlier
           classification they were divided into the subclasses
           Phycomycetes, the lower or algal fungi; the
           Mesomycetes, or intermediate fungi; and the
           Mycomycetes, or the higher fungi; by others into the
           Phycomycetes; the Ascomycetes, or sac-spore fungi;
           and the Basidiomycetes, or basidial-spore fungi.
           [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

  Phycomycetes \Phy`co*my*ce"tes\, n. pl. [NL.; Gr. fy^kos seaweed
     + mycetes.] (Bot.)
     A large, important class of parasitic or saprophytic fungi,
     the algal or algalike fungi. The plant body ranges from an
     undifferentiated mass of protoplasm to a well-developed and
     much-branched mycelium. Reproduction is mainly sexual, by the
     formation of conidia or sporangia; but the group shows every
     form of transition from this method through simple
     conjugation to perfect sexual reproduction by egg and sperm
     in the higher forms. -- Phy`co*my*ce"tous, a.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

phycomycetes - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Phycomycetes
      n 1: a large and probably unnatural group of fungi and
           funguslike organisms comprising the Mastigomycota
           (including the Oomycetes) and Zygomycota subdivisions of
           the division Eumycota; a category not used in all systems
           [syn: Phycomycetes, Phycomycetes group]