Fungal morphology is highly diverse, ranging from complex multicellular structures to very simple single cells. A variety of morphological structures and spore types can be produced by a single species. Conversely, many species produce similar morphologies (morphs) but are in fact genetically very distant. Until recently, a single species could be validly described with more than one binomial name based on sexual or asexual morphs. In many cases, only a single morph has been described and recorded for a given species, although species closely related to it could have several morphs described and recorded. Consequently, sequence comparisons have been applied in the fungal community to differentiate between species, to track species as they proceed through complex life cycles and to identify cryptic species. As part of the dynamic process of taxonomic re-evaluation, many fungal species corrections are not always up-to-date in GenBank sequence data.
