Fungalpedia – Note 3306, Basidiobolomycota

 

Basidiobolomycota Doweld, Prosyllabus Tracheophytorum, Tentamen Systematis Plantarum Vascularium (Tracheophyta) (Moscow): LXXVII (2001).

Citation when using this data: Wijayawardene NN et al. 2024 – Fungalpedia.

Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank.

Classification: Basidiobolomyceta, Fungi.

Note: The phylum Basidiobolomycota was proposed by Doweld (2001). Basidiobolomycota encompasses certain fungi that were traditionally classified within the phylum ‘Zygomycota’ but were reclassified due to molecular and phylogenetic evidence (Doweld 2001). The classification was revised to account for monophyly and divergence time, as presented in studies conducted by Tedersoo et al. (2018) and Wijayawardene et al. (2018b). Members of Basidiobolomycota are characterized by their unique features, particularly in their reproductive structures. They produce spores on specialized structures called basidia, which are club-shaped cells that typically bear four spores at their tips. This mode of spore production is one of the defining characteristics of the phylum and distinguishes it from other fungal groups. One of the remarkable traits of Basidiobolomycota is the production of multinucleate cells, known as coenocytic hyphae. Unlike most fungi, which have septate hyphae with distinct cell walls separating individual compartments, the hyphae of Basidiobolomycota lack septa, and multiple nuclei can exist within a single hyphal compartment (Tedersoo et al. 2018; Wijayawardene et al. 2018b).

Controversial opinions: Humber (2012) established Entomophthoromycota, to accommodate Basidiobolomycetes, Neozygitomycetes and Entomophthoramycetes. This placement was accepted by Gryganskyi et al. (2013). In the phylogenomic analyses of Galindo et al. (2021), the representative taxa of Basidiobolomycota clustered in Zoopagomycota. Strassert and Monaghan (2022) also confirmed the results of Galindo et al. (2021) and regarded Basidiobolomycota as a subphylum of Zoopagomycota, i.e. Basidiobolomycotina.

Basidiobolomycota comprises one subphylum (Basidiobolomycotina) and one class (Basidiobolomycetes).

Type genus: Basidiobolus Eidam 1886.

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Basidiobolomycota.

 

References

Doweld AB. 2001 – Prosyllabus tracheophytorum. In: Tentamen systematis plantarum vascularium (Tracheophyta). Geos, Moscow.

Galindo LJ, López-García P, Torruella G, Karpov S, Moreira D. 2021 – Phylogenomics of a new fungal phylum reveals multiple waves of reductive evolution across Holomycota. Nat Commun 12(4973):1–14. 

Gryganskyi AP, Humber RA, Smith ME, Hodge K et al. 2013 – Phylogenetic lineages in Entomophthoromycota. Persoonia 30(1):94–105.

Humber RA. 2012 – Entomophthoromycota: a new phylum and reclassification for entomophthoroid fungi. Mycotaxon 120:477–492.

Strassert JFH, Monaghan MT. 2022 – Phylogenomic insights into the early diversification of fungi. Curr Biol 32 (16):3628–3635 e3623.

Tedersoo L, Sánchez-Ramírez S, Kõljalg U, Bahram M et al. 2018 – High-level classification of the Fungi and a tool for evolutionary ecological analyses. Fungal Divers 90:135–159.

Wijayawardene NN, Pawlowska J, Letcher PM, Kirk PM. 2018b – Notes for genera: basal clades of Fungi (including Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Glomeromycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Olpidiomycota, Rozellomycota and Zoopagomycota). Fungal Divers 92:43–129. 

 

Entry by

Nalin N. Wijayawardene, Center for Yunnan Plateau Biological Resources Protection and Utilization, College of Biological Resource and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing, Yunnan 655011, P.R. China, Tropical Microbiology Research Foundation, 96/N/10, Meemanagoda Road, 10230 Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka, Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Technology, Rajarata University, Sri Lanka

 

Published online 29 September 2026

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