conidium
Americannoun
plural
conidia-
(in fungi) an asexual spore formed by abstriction at the top of a hyphal branch.
noun
-
an asexual spore formed at the tip of a specialized hypha (conidiophore) in fungi such as Penicillium
plural
conidia-
An asexually produced fungal spore, formed on a conidiophore. Most conidia are dispersed by the wind and can endure extremes of cold, heat, and dryness. When conditions are favorable, they germinate and grow into hyphae.
Other Word Forms
- conidial adjective
- conidian adjective
Etymology
Origin of conidium
1865–70; < Greek kón ( is ) dust (akin to incinerate ) + -idium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then it isolates itself from the germ-tube by a septum, and takes all the essential characteristics of the parent conidium.
From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
When it has reached the front of the opening in the conidium, which is thus emptied, the mass remains immovable.
From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
Lastly, there is a third mode of germination which the conidia of P. infestans manifest, and which consists in the conidium emitting from its summit a simple or branched germ-tube.
From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
According to his view, the ascus is in effect the sporangium with several spores, the conidium the sporangiole with but one spore, and that not loose but fused with the sporangiole wall.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various
These threads are hollow, and rarely septate; the upper portion divided into numerous branches, and these again are subdivided, the ultimate ramuli each terminated by a single conidium.
From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.