Spore
Mycology · Botany · Microbiology
Say it: SPOR
A spore is a small, hardy reproductive cell made by fungi, plants and some microbes that can spread widely and grow into a new organism on its own.
Also: spores
Definition
What is a spore?
A spore is a single cell, or a tiny cluster of cells, that can develop into a new organism without fusing with another cell. Unlike a seed, it holds no embryo and little stored food. Fungi, mosses, ferns, many algae and some protists make spores, which are usually light and protected by a resistant wall so they can travel on wind, water or animals and survive until conditions suit them.
Spores form in two ways. Asexual spores, such as the conidia of many molds, are made by mitosis and are genetic copies of the parent. Sexual spores are made by meiosis after two compatible cells fuse, so they carry new combinations of genes. In land plants, the diploid sporophyte generation produces haploid spores by meiosis inside structures called sporangia, and each spore grows into a gametophyte, the generation that makes eggs and sperm. Spore producers usually release vast numbers, because only a few will land somewhere suitable.
The word is also used for bacterial endospores, the dormant, heat-resistant bodies formed by Bacillus and Clostridium, which serve survival rather than reproduction. Inhaled fungal spores are the usual cause of lung infections such as histoplasmosis.
Word parts
Where does the word “spore” come from?
- spor-
- seed, sowingGreek spora
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Terms that go with it
- FungusA fungus is a eukaryote, such as a yeast, mold or mushroom, that has chitin in its cell walls and feeds by absorbing nutrients from its surroundings.
- EndosporeAn endospore is a tough, dormant structure formed inside some bacteria, such as Bacillus and Clostridium, that survives heat, drying and chemicals.
- HyphaA hypha is one of the long, branching threads that make up the body of most fungi; a tangled mass of hyphae forms a mycelium.
- MeiosisMeiosis is a two-stage cell division that turns one diploid cell into four genetically different haploid cells, the precursors of eggs and sperm.
- MitosisMitosis is the division of a cell's nucleus that gives each of two daughter cells an identical, complete set of chromosomes.
- GameteA gamete is a haploid reproductive cell, such as a sperm or an egg, that fuses with a gamete of the opposite type at fertilization to form a zygote.
Sources
Checked against
Written for biofideX in plain words, after checking these references:
- OpenStax Biology 2e, 24.1 Characteristics of Fungi
- OpenStax Biology 2e, 25.1 Early Plant Life
- NCBI MeSH: Spores
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