Glossary of Mycological Terms
Additional reference: Hawksworth DL, PM Kirk, BC Sutton, DN Pegler. 1995. Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the fungi. International Mycologyical Institute.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Acropleurogenous | Conidia developing at the tip and along the sides of the conidiophore. |
| Adiaconidia | A large, globose, thick-walled conidium, usually produced by Emmonsia (Chrysosporium) parvum, in the lungs of humans and animals. |
| Aerial mycelium | Hyphal elements growing above the agar surface. |
| Aleurioconidium (pl. aleurioconidia) | A thallic conidium released by lysis or fracture of the supporting cell. |
| Ameroconidium (pl. ameroconidium) | A one-celled conidium. |
| Anamorph | An asexual state of a fungus. |
| Annellide | A specialized conidiogenous cell producing conidia in basipetal succession by a series of short percurrent proliferations (annellations). The tip of an annellide increases in length and becomes narrower as each subsequent conidium is formed. |
| Annelloconidium (pl. annelloconidia) | A conidium produced by an annellide. |
| Apophysis | A swelling. The term is primarily applied to the funnel-shaped swelling of a sporangiophore, immediately below the columella, seen in some zygomycetes. |
| Arthric | A type of conidial ontogeny involving the conversion and subsequent disarticulation of a determinant conidiogenous hypha. |
| Arthroconidium (pl. arthroconidia) | A thallic conidium released by either the splitting of a double septum or by the fragmentation or lysis of a disjunctor cell. |
| Ascocarp | A fruiting body containing asci and ascospores. |
| Ascomycetes | A group of fungi that reproduce sexually by the endogenous formation of ascospores in an ascus. |
| Ascomycetous | Referring to the Ascomycetes. |
| Ascospore | A haploid spore produced within an ascus following karyogamy and meiosis. |
| Ascus (pl. asci) | A sac-like cell containing ascospores. Asci are characteristic of the Ascomycetes. |
| Aseptate | Lacking septa, often pertaining to the hyphae seen in zygomycetes (also see coenocytic). |
| Ballistoconidium (pl. ballistoconidia) | A conidium that is forcibly discharged. |
| Basidiomycetes | A group of fungi that reproduce sexually by the exogenous formation of basidiospores from a basidium. |
| Basidiospore | A haploid spore produced on a basidium following karyogamy and meiosis. |
| Basidium (pl. basidia) | A cell that gives rise to a basidiospore. Basidia are characteristic of the Basidiomycetes. |
| Basipetal | A chain of conidia, the oldest conidium is at the apex and the youngest is at the base. |
| Basocatenulate | A chain of conidia having the youngest cell at the base. |
| Bipolar budding | Blastoconidia developing at the opposite poles of a parent cell. |
| Biseriate | Phialides arising from metulae as in the genus Aspergillus. |
| Biverticillate | Two or rarely three levels of branching directly below the phialides as in the genus Penicillium. |
| Blastic | A form of conidial development where there is a recognizable enlargement or "blowing out" of a conidial initial before being delimited by a septum. |
| Blastocatenate | A chain of conidia having the youngest cell at the tip. |
| Blastoconidium (pl. blastoconidia) | An asexual conidium that forms by a blowing out or budding process. |
| Bud | A young conidium. Usually used to denote the young blastoconidia of yeasts. |
| Budding | Asexual multiplication by the production of a small outgrowth or bud from a parent cell. |
| Capsule | A hyaline mucopolysaccharide sheath around the cell wall of certain yeasts e.g. Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula. |
| Catenulate | Conidia arranged in chains. |
| Chlamydoconidium (pl. Chlamydoconidia) | A thick-walled, thallic conidium formed within the vegetative hyphae. Chlamydoconidia function as organs of perennation rather than dissemination. |
| Clamp connection | A specialized hyphal bridge over a septum in the Basidiomycetes. |
| Clavate | Club-shaped. |
| Cleistothecium (pl. cleistothecia) | An enclosed ascocarp containing randomly dispersed asci. |
| Coenocytic | Infrequently septate, multi-nucleate hyphae as in the Zygomycetes. |
| Collarette | A small collar. Usually, a remnant of a cell wall present at the tip of a phialide, or around a sporangiophore. |
| Columella (pl. columellae) | A sterile dome-like structure at the tip of a sporangiophore or within a sporangium. |
| Columnar | Forming a column. |
| Conidiogenous cell | A cell that forms conidia. |
| Conidiophore | A specialized hypha upon which conidia develop. |
| Conidium (pl. conidia) | An asexual reproductive propagule formed in any manner that does not involve cytoplasmic cleavage. Conidia function as organs of dissemination. |
| Cottony | Having a loose and coarse texture. |
| Cylindrical | Cylindric, having parallel walls and circular cross-section. |
| Dematiaceous | A dark brown, greenish gray or black colour. |
| Denticle | A small projection or peg on which conidia are produced. |
| Dermatophyte | A fungus belonging to the genera Epidermophyton, Microsporum, or Trichophyton with the ability to utilize keratin to infect hair, nail and skin. |
| Determinate conidiophore | The conidiophore does not alter in length after the formation of conidia. |
| Deuteromycetes | An artificial subdivision to accommodate those fungi where only the asexual state is known. |
| Dichotomous | A type of hyphal branching into two equal forks. |
| Dictyoconidium (pl. dictyoconidia) | A conidium with both longitudinal and transverse septa; a muriform conidium. |
| Didmoconidium (pl. didymoconidia) | A two celled conidium. |
| Dimorphic | Having two different morphological forms. |
| Disjunctor cell | An empty cell that fragments and/or undergoes lysis to release a conidium. |
| Dolipore septum | A characteristic septum found in the Basidiomycetes that flares out near the pore to form an elongate channel. |
| Double septum | A two layered septum that may undergo centripetal separation (schizolysis) to release a conidium. |
| Downy | Having a short and dense mycelial texture. |
| Dysgonic | A slow growing variant. |
| Echinulate | Covered with delicate spines. |
| Ectothrix | Natural hair invasion by a dermatophyte characterized by arthroconidia on the outside of the hair shaft. |
| Effuse | Spread out, radiate. |
| Elliptical | Oval, with a symmetric curve. |
| Elongate | Lengthened. |
| Endospore | A spore produced within a spherule. |
| Endothrix | Natural hair invasion by a dermatophyte characterized by the development of arthroconidia within the hair shaft only. |
| Erect | Upright. |
| Evanescent | Disappearing. |
| Exudate | Droplets of fluid formed on the surface of a colony. |
| Falcate | Curved like a sickle. |
| Flexuous | Wavy. |
| Floccose | Fluffy or cottony. |
| Foot cell | A basal cell of a conidiophore as seen in Aspergillus and Fusarium. |
| Fusiform | Spindle-shaped, tapering toward the end. |
| Geniculate | Bent like a knee. |
| Germ tube | The initial hypha that develops from a conidium or spore. |
| Glabrous | Smooth. |
| Gloiospora | Conidia aggregated in slimy heads at the tip of an annellide or phialide. |
| Guttulate | Containing one or more oil droplets. |
| Gymnothecium (pl. gymnothecia) | A non-ostiolate ascocarp composed of loosely interwoven hyphae and containing randomly dispersed asci. |
| Heterothallic | A fungus that requires mating between two compatible strains for sexual reproduction to occur. |
| Hilum | A scar at the base of a conidium. |
| Holoblastic | A mode of blastic conidium ontogeny in which all the cell wall layers of the conidiogenous cell are involved in conidium development. |
| Holothallic | A mode of thallic conidium ontogeny in which all the cell wall layers of the conidiogenous cell are involved in conidium development. |
| Homothallic | A fungus capable of sexual reproduction on a single thallus. |
| Hulle cells | Thick-walled cells with characteristic thin-walled pores, usually associated with cleistothecia of Aspergillus. |
| Hyaline | Colourless. |
| Hyalo- | A prefix meaning hyaline to lightly coloured. |
| Hypha (pl. hyphae) | A single filament of a fungus. |
| Hyphomycetes | A class of mycelial moulds which reproduce asexually by conidia on hyphae or aggregations of hyphae. |
| Intercalary | Within a hyphal element. |
| Lageniform | Flask-shaped. |
| Lanceolate | Lance-shaped. |
| Lanose | Woolly. |
| Lateral | On the side. |
| Lenticular | Shaped like a double convex lens. |
| Macroconidium (pl. macroconidia) | The larger of two different types of conidia produced by a fungus in the same manner. |
| Macronematous | Having a conidiophore that is morphologically different from the vegetative hyphae. |
| Merosporangium (pl. merosporangia) | A small cylindrical sporangium with the sporangiospores aligned in a row. |
| Metula (pl. Metulae) | A sterile cell below the phialides of some Aspergillus and Penicillium species. |
| Microconidium (pl. microconidia) | The smaller of two different types of conidia produced by a fungus in the same manner. |
| Micronematous | Having a conidiophore that is not morphologically different from the vegetative hyphae. |
| Mucoid | Sticky or slimy. |
| Multipolar budding | Blastoconidia developing at different sites on the surface of a parent cell. |
| Multiseptate | Having several septa. |
| Muriform | A conidium with both longitudinal and transverse septa. |
| Mycelium (pl. mycelia) | The mass of hyphae making up the thallus of a fungus. |
| Niger | Black. |
| Nonseptate | Without septa. |
| Obclavate | Club-shaped in reverse; the distal region is smaller. |
| Obpyriform | Pear-shaped in reverse; the distal region is larger. |
| Olivaceous | Olive-grey colour. |
| Ostiole | An opening or pore in an ascocarp or a pycnidium. |
| Ovoid | Egg-shaped. |
| Pectinate | Like the teeth of a comb. |
| Pedicel | A slender stalk. |
| Pellicle | A film-like or skin-like surface growth. |
| Penicillus (pl. penicilli) | The brush-like conidiophore of Penicillium. |
| Percurrent | Conidiogenous cell growth where a new axis grows through the previous apex. |
| Peridium | The outer wall of an ascocarp. |
| Perithecium (pl. perithecia) | An enclosed ascocarp characterized an apical ostiole and by asci arranged in a basal tuft or hymenium layer. |
| Phaeo- | A prefix meaning darkly pigmented. |
| Phialide | A specialized conidiogenous cell that produces conidia in basipetal succession without increasing in length. |
| Phialoconidium (pl. phialoconidia) | A conidium produced from a phialide. |
| Phragmoconidium (pl. phragmoconidia) | A conidium having two or more transverse septa. |
| Pleomorphic | Having more than one form. |
| Pleurogenous | Born on the sides of a conidiophore or hyphae. |
| Poroconidium (pl. poroconidia) | A conidium produced through a small pore in a conidiogenous cell. |
| Pseudohyphae | A string of elongated blastoconidia formed in some yeasts that resemble a hypha-like filament. |
| Pycnidium (pl. pycnidia) | An asexual fruiting body containing conidia. |
| Pyriform | Pear-shaped. |
| Rachis | An extension of a sympodial proliferating conidiogenous cell bearing conidia. |
| Racquet hyphae | A hypha composed of a number of cells swollen at one end resembling a tennis racquet. |
| Retrogressive conidial development | The conidiogenesis cell becomes shorter during the successive development of conidia. |
| Rhizoids | A short branching root-like hyphae seen in some Zygomycetes. |
| Sclerotium (sclerotia) | A mass of thick-walled cells formed by the vegetative hyphae that function as an organ of perennation. |
| Semimacronematous | Having a conidiophore that is only slightly morphologically different from the vegetative hyphae. |
| Septum (pl. septa) | A cross wall in a hypha. |
| Solitary | Alone. |
| Spinulose | Covered in small spines. |
| Sporangiolum (pl. ) | A small sporangium producing a small number of sporangiospores. |
| Sporangiophore | A specialized hypha that bears a sporangium. |
| Sporangiospore | An asexual spore produced within a sporangium. |
| Sporangium (pl. sporangia) | A sac-like structure producing asexual spores endogenously by cytoplasmic cleavage. |
| Spore | A reproductive propagule formed by either meiosis or mitosis. However, if by asexual means, cleavage of cytoplasm is usually involved. |
| Sporodochium (pl. sporodochia) | A cushion-shaped mass of hyphae bearing conidiophores. |
| Stellate | Star-shaped. |
| Sterigma (pl. sterigmata) | A small pointed structure upon which a basidiospore forms. |
| Stolon | A running hypha from which rhizoids and sporangiospores arise. |
| Striate | Having lines or minute furrows. |
| Subglobose | Not quite round or spherical. |
| Sympodial | A mode of conidiogenous cell growth which results in the development of conidia on a geniculate or zig-zag rachis. |
| Synnema (pl. synnemata) | A group of erect conidiophores that are cemented together producing conidia at the apex and/or along the sides. |
| Teleomorph | The sexual state of a fungus. |
| Thallic | A mode of conidial ontogeny where a conidium is formed from a pre-existing hyphal segment or cell. |
| Toruloid | Having swellings at intervals. |
| Truncate | Cut off sharply. |
| Tuberculate | Having small wart-like structures. |
| Uniserate | Phialides arising directly from a vesicle as in Aspergillus. |
| Verrucose | Having many warts. |
| Verticillate | Having branches arranged in verticils or whorls. |
| Vesicle | A swollen cell. |
| Zygospores | A thick-walled sexual spore formed by the fusion of two similar gametangia; characteristic of the Zygomycetes. |