conidium

American  

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

noun

Botany.

plural

conidia

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 /

plural

conidia

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

• conidial adjective
• conidian adjective

Etymology

Origin of conidium

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

Example Sentences

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)

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)

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)

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

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