deuteromycetes, fungi (kingdom Fungi) in which a true sexual state is uncommon or unknown. Many of these fungi reproduce asexually by spores (conidia or oidia) or by budding. Conidial stages are similar to those in the phylum Ascomycota, but those of some species show affinities to lower (primitive) fungi and the phylum Basidiomycota. Because of this ambiguity, the term deuteromycetes is used only to describe some species of fungi and has very little importance in the classification of fungi.
Many anamorphic fungi are of great economic importance, some causing serious diseases of plants—anthracnose, botrytis blight, and wilt (qq.v.)—and of animals, including humans—aspergillosis, candidiasis, and ringworm (qq.v.). Molds of the genus Penicillium (q.v.) are of great therapeutic importance.