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.

---

conidium British  

/ kəʊˈnɪdɪəm /

noun

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

---

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.

---

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

This secondary conidium can sometimes engender a third cellule by a similar process.

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

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 M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt) Cooke

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 M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt) Cooke

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 M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt) Cooke

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 M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt) Cooke

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

From Scientific American ● Apr. 21, 2018

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

From Scientific American ● Apr. 21, 2018

The latter are till now alone reproductions of conidia-bearers, and have never been observed on mycelia which have grown out of conidia.

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

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

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

Before their connection was known, the conceptacles and the conidia pedicels were considered as organs of two very different species of fungi.

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