ASCUS

ascus

 [as´kus]

the spore case of certain fungi.

Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

ASCUS

In the Bethesda system, acronym for atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance , under cell.
See also: Bethesda system.

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as·cus

, pl.

as·ci

(as'kŭs, as'ī),

The saclike cell of Ascomycetes in which ascospores develop following nuclear fusion and meiosis.

[G. askos, bag]

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

ASCUS

Atypical squamous cell of undetermined significance Cytology A cell seen in a pap smear of the cervix that fulfills some of the criteria–eg nuclear enlargement and irregularity, cytoplasmic clearing, and thickened cell membranes, that define cells typical of either a condyloma or a neoplasm. See CIN, HSIL, LSIL. Cf AGUS, SIL.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

ASCUS

Abbreviation for atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance.

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

Fig. 50 Ascus . An ascus containing ascospores of Neurospora crassa.

ascus or (formerly) theca

(pl. asci) a cell present in the fruiting body of ASCOMYCETE fungi in which the fusion of HAPLOID nuclei occurs during sexual reproduction. This is normally followed by MEIOSIS, giving rise to four haploid cells, after which MITOSIS produces eight ASCOSPORES. The precise arrangement of ascospores within the ascus enables the events at meiosis to be fully analysed (see TETRAD ANALYSIS). The asci are usually enclosed within an aggregation of hyphae termed an ASCOCARP, a number of different types being recognized, e.g. perithecium, cleistothecium, apothecium.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005