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.

---

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 /

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.

---

Other Word Forms

• conidial adjective
• conidian adjective

Etymology

Origin of conidium

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

Example Sentences

According to his view, the ascus is in effect the sporangium with several spores, the conidium the sporangiole with but one spore, and that not loose but fused with the sporangiole wall.

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

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)

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)

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)

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)