Editing Conidium (section)

{{short description|Asexual, non-motile spore of a fungus}}
[[File:Conidium.png|thumb|Conidia on conidiophores]]
[[File:Chain of conidia of an Alternaria sp. fungus PHIL 3963 lores.jpg|thumb|Chain of conidia of ''[[Alternaria]]'']]
[[File:Seiridium canker 100814w.JPG|thumb|Conidiomata of [[Cypress canker]] (probably ''[[Seiridium]] cardinale'') erupting on a ''[[Thuja]]'' twig]]

A '''conidium''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|n|ɪ|d|i|ə|m|,_|k|oʊ|-}} {{respell|kə|NID|ee|əm|,_|koh|-}}; {{plural form}}: '''conidia'''), sometimes termed an '''asexual [[chlamydospore]]''' or '''chlamydoconidium''' ({{plural form}}: '''chlamydoconidia'''),<ref>Jansonius, D.C., Gregor, Me., 1996. Palynology: principles and applications. American association of stratigraphic palynologists foundation.{{page needed|date=February 2015}}</ref> is an [[Asexual reproduction|asexual]],<ref name="pmid11377860">{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1574-6968.2001.tb10667.x|pmid=11377860|title=The molecular mechanisms of conidial germination|journal=FEMS Microbiology Letters|volume=199|issue=2|pages=153–60|year=2001|last1=Osherov|first1=Nir|last2=May|first2=Gregory S|doi-access=free}}</ref> non-[[motility|motile]] [[spore]] of a [[fungus]]. The word ''conidium'' comes from the [[Ancient Greek]] word for [[dust]], {{wikt-lang|grc|κόνις}} (''{{grc-transl|κόνις}}'').<ref>{{cite Collins Dictionary|conidium}}</ref> They are also called '''mitospores''' due to the way they are generated through the cellular process of [[mitosis]].{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} They are produced exogenously. The two new [[haploid]] cells are genetically identical to the haploid parent, and can develop into new organisms if conditions are favorable, and serve in [[biological dispersal]].

Asexual reproduction in [[ascomycete]]s (the phylum [[Ascomycota]]) is by the formation of conidia, which are borne on specialized stalks called '''conidiophores'''. The [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]] of these specialized conidiophores is often distinctive between species and, before the development of molecular techniques at the end of the 20th century, was widely used for identification of (''e.g.'' ''[[Metarhizium#Species|Metarhizium]]'') species.

The terms '''microconidia''' and '''macroconidia''' are sometimes used.<ref name="pmid15020411">{{cite journal |doi=10.1534/genetics.166.1.113|pmid=15020411|pmc=1470687|title=REN1 is Required for Development of Microconidia and Macroconidia, but Not of Chlamydospores, in the Plant Pathogenic Fungus Fusarium oxysporum|journal=Genetics|volume=166|issue=1|pages=113–24|year=2004|last1=Ohara|first1=T.|last2=Inoue|first2=I|last3=Namiki|first3=F|last4=Kunoh|first4=H|last5=Tsuge|first5=T}}</ref>