NAME Protoascon
AGE    AGE span:  mya
K&J CLASSIFICATION (2000) Phycomycetes, Saprolegniales?.
FIGURE(S)
FIGURE REFERENCE
SPECIES, AUTHORITY Protoascon Batra, Segal & Baxter 1964, p. 991.
LOCATION
ORIG DESCRIPTION* ORIGINAL DIAGNOSIS: Perithecium-like, globose to subglobose fungal bodies composed of a single layer of cells surrounding a cavity containing a single, large, central spore-sac attached at the base: the fruiting body attached to a vesicular appendiculate base bearing 10 symmetrically placed appendages of varying dimensions.
Monotypic.
COMMENTS* Protoascon appears to have some striking, but perhaps superficial, similarities to some of the Erysiphales. The genera Sphaerotheca Lev. and Podosphaera Kunze ex Lev. both have only one 8-spored ascus per perithecium, and the ascospores are comparatively large. The perithecial wall in most Erysiphales consists of 2 layers, and each of these may be 1 to several cells thick. Some thick sections of Protoascon (figs. 2, 3, 8) may give the impression that the perithecial wall is more than 1 cell thick. However, a close examination of the series of sections seems to indicate that the perithecial wall is 1 cell thick.

Protoascon resembles some species of Mycocarpon Hutchinson 1955, another fossil fungus, in having a central body containing spore-like structures. The former fungus, however, neither possesses an ostiole nor anything comparable to an appendiculate base. Also, the wall of the fruiting body in Protoascon is apparently 1 cell thick, while it is 1 to several cells thick in Mycocarpon. [For further details, refer to the original paper.]
PUBLICATION REFERENCE Batra LR, Segal RH, Baxter RW. 1964. A new Middle Pennsylvanian fossil fungus; American Journal of Botany, v. 51, p. 991-995.
K&J REMARKS See remarks from Kalgutkar and Jansonius (2000) under Protoascon missouriensis.
TYPE TYPE: Protoascon missouriensis Batra, Segal & Baxter 1964, p. 991, fig. 1-11.
ALL NAMES (Including synonyms) Protoascon;
SERIAL NUMBER 1444
PUBLIC COMMENTS
 *For source, see Publication Reference.