Conidia are a type of fungal spore and the term is also used for spores of prokaryotes of the genus Streptomyces. In fungi, they are mitospores and are produced asexually (mitotically), outside the sporangium, either by modification of hyphae or on conidiophores. They are characteristic dispersal structures of vegetative reproduction in higher fungi, including ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.

Back to Glossary Back to Term