Gigasporaceae - Morton & Benny

Species in this family form large (usually >200 um) asexual spores with the following morphological properties:

1. The spore wall consists of a permanent outer layer enclosing a laminate layer, each with different properties that distinguish species (e.g. color, thickness, reaction in Melzer’s reagent, etc.) and
2. The spore contents are partitioned from that of the bulbous sporogenous cell by a plug or, more rarely, by a septum.

Genera:

• Gigaspora
• Cetraspora
• Dentiscutata
• Racocetra
• Scutellospora

Literature Cited

• Morton, J.B. and Benny, G.L. 1990. Revised classification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Zygomycetes): a new order, Glomales, two new suborders, Glomineae and Gigasporineae, and two new families, Acaulosporaceae and Gigasporaceae, with an emendation of Glomaceae. Mycotaxon37:471-491.