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Affixes

-myces

Also ‑mycete, ‑mycetes, ‑mycotina, and ‑mycota.

Bacteria or fungi.

Greek mukēs, mukēt‑, fungus or mushroom.

In systematic biological terminology, words ending in ‑mycota are names of divisions, those in ‑mycotina a subdivision, ‑mycetes a class or subclass, and ‑myces a genus.

Example are Ascomycota (Greek askos, sac), the sac fungi, which include the morels and truffles; Basidiomycotina, fungi whose spores develop in basidia, which include the majority of familiar mushrooms and toadstools; and Hymenomycetes (Greek humēn, membrane), which includes the common poisonous and edible mushrooms.

Despite the Greek ending, genus names ending in ‑myces sometimes refer to bacteria, because they were originally thought to be fungi. Examples are Saccharomyces (Greek sakkharon, sugar), the genus of fungi that includes baker's and brewer's yeasts, and Streptomyces (Greek streptos, twisted), a genus of bacteria, several of which are important sources of antibiotics.

Terms in ‑mycete are non-systematic names for groups of organisms that belong to divisions and classes of the fungi and sometimes of bacteria. Examples are basidiomycete, ascomycete, and streptomycete.