Heterogastridiales

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Heterogastridiales are an order of fungi in the class Microbotryomycetes. It has one family, Heterogastridiaceae, and five genera: Atractocolax, Hyalopycnis, Krieglsteinera, Pycnopulvinus, and Slooffia. Some species are known only from yeast states; those with hyphal states have auricularioid (side-to-side) basidia and are parasites on other fungi. When fruit bodies (basidiocarps) are present, they are very small and can be pin-shaped (stilboid), pustular, or flask-shaped (pycnidioid). DNA studies show the order forms a natural (monophyletic) group, though the type species of Krieglsteinera hasn’t been sequenced yet and may belong elsewhere. A synonyms list includes Krieglsteineraceae.