a saclike structure produced by fungi of the phylum Ascomycota (sac fungi) in which sexually produced spores (ascospores), usually four or eight in number, are formed. Asci may arise from the fungal mycelium (the filaments, or hyphae, constituting the organism) without a distinct fruiting structure, as in the leaf curl fungi; it may arise within a fruiting structure (ascocarp) that may be exposed, as in the molds and powdery mildew fungi; or it may be imbedded in a compact structure (stroma), as in the ergot and black knot fungi. In the case of yeasts, a single cell converts to an ascus.