conidium

American  

[koh-nid-ee-uhm, kuh-] / koʊˈnɪd i əm, kə- /

noun

Botany.

• conidia
  plural

1. (in fungi) an asexual spore formed by abstriction at the top of a hyphal branch.

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conidium British  

/ kəʊˈnɪdɪəm /

noun

1. an asexual spore formed at the tip of a specialized hypha (conidiophore) in fungi such as Penicillium

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conidium Scientific  

/ kə-nĭd′ē-əm /

• conidia
  plural

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• conidial
  adjective
• conidian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• conidia
  plural

Etymology

Origin of conidium

1865–70; < Greek kón ( is ) dust (akin to incinerate ) + -idium

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conidium conidia

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)

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)

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)

A short time after the appearance of the vacuoles the entire conidium extends itself so that the papilla disappears.

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)

These spores are conidia, asexually-produced reproductive cells, and are termed a Stage I infection.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 21, 2018

Cicadas infected by conidia experience a similar infection, termed Stage II, that results in sexually-produced spores.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 21, 2018

Bees have been shown to carry the spores of Sclerotinia and infect the stigmas of Bilberries, etc., with them; and flies convey the conidia of Ergot from grain to grain.

From Disease in Plants by Ward, H. Marshall

Besides the special ascocarps, accessory reproductive organs are known in the majority of cases in the form of conidia.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

The ripe conidia are round like a ball, their surface is scarcely coloured, and almost wholly smooth.

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)