Spore

:This article is about biological spores. For the video game, see Spore (game).

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The term spore has several different meanings in biology.

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Categorization by function:

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• Diaspores are dispersal units of fungi, as well as mosses, ferns, fern allies, and a few other plants.
• resting stage in the life cycle of some bacteria (see endospore) and loosely applied to some animal resting stages
• Chlamydospores are thick-walled resting spores in fungi.
• Zygospores are thick-walled resting spores (hypnozygotes) of zygomycetous fungi which are produced by sexual gametocystogamy and can give rise to a conidiophore ("zygosporangium") with asexual conidiospores.

Categorization by origin during life cycle:

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• Meiospore is a product of meiosis (the critical cytogenetic stage of sexual reproduction), meaning it is haploid and will give rise to a haploid daughter cell(s) or a haploid individual. An example is the parent of gametophytes of the higher vascular plants (angiosperms and gymnosperms)—the microspores (give rise to pollen) and megaspores (give rise to ovules) found in flowers and cones; these plants accomplish dispersal by means of seeds.
• Mitospore (conidium, conidiospore) is an asexually produced propagule, the result of mitosis. Most fungi produce mitospores. Mitosporic fungi are also known as anamophic fungi (compare teleomorph or deuteromycetes).

Categorization by motility - spores can be differentiated by whether they can move or not:

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• Zoospore can move by means of one or more flagellum. It can be found in some algae.
• Aplanospore cannot move, but could potentially grow flagella.
• Autospore cannot move and does not have the potential to ever develop any flagella.
• Ballistospore is actively discharged from fungal fruit body (mushroom).
• Statismospore is not actively discharged from fungal fruit body (see puffball).

Spores can be formed sexually or asexually, and therefore many different kinds of spores exist. In common parlance, the difference between "spore" and "gamete" (both together called gonites) is that a spore will germinate and develop into a Thallus (tissue) of some sort, whereas a gamete needs to combine with another gamete before developing further. However, the terms are somewhat interchangeable when referring to gametes, as indicated by the technical terminology given in the second definition above.

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A chief difference between spores and seeds as dispersal units is that spores have very little stored food resources compared with seeds, and thus require more favorable conditions in order to successfully germinate. In their favor, spores are very hardy and require much less energy to produce. The strategy employed in producing spores, is to reach all the favorable locations by producing and dispersing very large numbers.

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Spore came from a Greek word meaning seed. However, seeds (of seed plants) are not the same as spores, but are the fusion of gametes.

Related Topics:
Greek - Seed - Seed plant

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Spore: Diaspores ►