Ascus

In medicine ASCUS stands for atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. Means that irreg­ular cells have shown up on a Pap smear. Ascus (plural, asci) In Ascomycota (blue, green, and red molds). A saclike spore capsule located at the tip of the fruiting body. Called the ascocarp in dikaryotic (containing two differing haploid nuclei) hyphae. In which ascopores are found and in which karyogamy is performed, i.e., two (dikaryotic) nuclei fuse (karyo- gamy) to form diploid nuclei. Asci vary in shape from narrow and elongate to nearly round. While the num­ber of ascospores per atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance is usually eight, numerous other counts of ascospores per ascus are also known.