hypha

American  

[hahy-fuh] / ˈhaɪ fə /

noun

plural

hyphae

1. (in a fungus) one of the threadlike elements of the mycelium.

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hypha British  

/ ˈhaɪfə /

noun

1. any of the filaments that constitute the body (mycelium) of a fungus

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hypha Scientific  

/ hī′fə /

plural

hyphae

1. One of the long slender tubes that develop from germinated spores and form the structural parts of the body of a fungus. In many species of fungi, hyphae are divided into sections by cross walls called septa. Each section contains at least one haploid nucleus, and the septa usually have perforations that allow cytoplasm to flow through the hypha. A large mass of hyphae is known as a mycelium, which is the growing form of most fungi. From time to time, hyphae develop reproductive structures that are partitioned from the hypha by holeless septa. In many species, these structures are microscopic; in others, they are visible and large. Mushrooms and shelf fungi are visible reproductive structures of fungi.

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Other Word Forms

• hyphal adjective

Etymology

Origin of hypha

1865–70; < New Latin < Greek hyphḗ web

Example Sentences

Fungi can reproduce asexually by releasing spores or simply breaking off a hypha or budding off a cell.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

One hypha has a round sporangium, about 35 microns in diameter, at the tip.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

In most phyla of fungi, tiny holes in the septa allow for the rapid flow of nutrients and small molecules from cell to cell along the hypha.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

Although individual hypha must be observed under a microscope, the mycelium of a fungus can be very large with some species truly being “the fungus humongous.”

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

It is, perhaps, worthy of remark that in Chionyphe Carteri the threads grow over the cysts exactly as the hypha of lichens is represented as growing over the gonidia.

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