Leotiomyceta

Leotiomyceta represents all the filamentous ascomycete fungi (Pezizomycotina), excluding the classes Pezizomycetes and Orbiliomycetes. It is well supported in several studies comparing DNA sequences in fungi.^[1][2] It has originally been proposed as a superclass^[3] but more recently was proposed as a rankless taxon for any well supported group above class (together with saccharomyceta, dothideomyceta and sordariomyceta^[4]). Rankless taxa do not strictly follow the rules for taxonomic classifications in plants and fungi (ICBN) and therefore these names are informal, although they appear to reflect natural groups.

References

1. James TY, Kauff F, Schoch CL, Matheny PB, Hofstetter V, Cox CJ, Celio G, Gueidan C, Fraker E, Miadlikowska J, Lumbsch HT, Rauhut A, Reeb V, Arnold AE, Amtoft A, Stajich JE, Hosaka K, Sung G-H, Johnson D, O'Rourke B, Crockett M, Binder M, Curtis JM, Slot JC, Wang Z, Wilson AW, Schuszler A, Longcore JE, O'Donnell K, Mozley-Standridge S, Porter D, Letcher PM, Powell MJ, Taylor JW, White MM, Griffith GW, Davies DR, Humber RA, Morton JB, Sugiyama J, Rossman AY, Rogers JD, Pfister DH, Hewitt D, Hansen K, Hambleton S, Shoemaker RA, Kohlmeyer J, Volkmann-Kohlmeyer B, Spotts RA, Serdani M, Crous PW, Hughes KW, Matsuura K, Langer E, Langer G, Untereiner WA, Lucking R, Budel B, Geiser DM, Aptroot A, Diederich P, Schmitt I, Schultz M, Yahr R, Hibbett DS, Lutzoni F, McLaughlin DJ, Spatafora JW, Vilgalys R, 2006. Reconstructing the early evolution of Fungi using a six-gene phylogeny. Nature 443, 818-822.
2. Spatafora JW, Sung G-H, Johnson D, Hesse C, O'Rourke B, Serdani M, Spotts R, Lutzoni F, Hofstetter V, Miadlikowska J, Reeb V, Gueidan C, Fraker E, Lumbsch T, Lücking R, Schmitt I, Hosaka K, Aptroot A, Roux C, Miller AN, Geiser DM, Hafellner J, Hestmark G, Arnold AE, Büdel B, Rauhut A, Hewitt D, Untereiner WA, Cole MS, Scheidegger C, Schultz M, Sipman H, Schoch CL, 2006. A five-gene phylogeny of Pezizomycotina. Mycologia 98, 1018-1028.
3. Eriksson OE, Winka K, 1997. Supraordinal taxa of Ascomycota. Myconet 1, 1-16.
4. Schoch CL, Wang Z, Townsend JP, Spatafora JW, 2009. Geoglossomycetes cl. nov., Geoglossales ord. nov. and taxa above class rank in the Ascomycota Tree of Life. Persoonia 22, 129-138 .