JELLY FUNGI, THEN AND NOW

Concepts of relationships within the ''jelly fungi'' have undergone several revisions during the past several decades. While basidial morphology remains an important taxonomic consideration, ultrastructural studies, especially of the septal pore apparatus and the spindle pole body, as well as in vitro investigations, suggest that similar basidial types have evolved in divergent taxa. Among the taxa included by G. W. Martin in 1945 in the Tremellales s. l., the Ceratobasidiales, Tulasnellales, Dacrymycetales, and Auriculariales, as defined by R. J. Bandoni in 1984, form a coherent group. The Filobasidiaceae, Carcinomycetaceae, and Rhynchogastremaceae, i.e., the Filobasidiales, are possibly not monophyletic; therefore, the recognition of the Filobasidiales is questionable. Species concepts have also been refined due primarily to studies in culture, pairing tests, and improved microscopic studies utilizing phase optics. It seems obvious that neither one technique nor one definition of a species will suffice for continued refinements in the systematics of the ''jelly fungi.''