In the present classification for fungi, the Basidiomycota and Ascomycota are classified on the basis of the "whole fungus" (i.e., the vegetative and reproductive structures, with the latter weighted) whereas the Deuteromycota were form taxa based on relatively few, usually artificial, characters. This problem, which will be addressed in the workshop, "Higher Fungal Classification," was clearly enunciated by Thomas Bruns, "If all fungi can be compared through their nucleic acids and placed on a single phylogenetic tree, do we need to maintain the Deuteromycetes?" Clearly from a scientific perspective the answer is an unqualified "yes. This taxonomic solution for these asexual forms will be most feasible and practical if the phylogeny of the basidiomycetes and ascomycetes has been solidly based on rigorous methods of data collection and analysis. Various laboratories in the U.S.A. have initiated studies that incorporate detailed analyses of macro- and microcharacters of the phenotype, molecular sequence data, and cladistic algorithms to develop those phylogenies; however, it appears that protocol has not spread as widely as is necessary to complete this endeavor. Therefore, this workshop could have a secondary effect---the continued spread of molecular techniques in the study of phylogenetic relationships within the fungal kingdom.
