chlamydospores and or conidia - how to describe the difference? (Jun/20/2008 )

Btw I do wonder what the use of chlamydospores is if they are not viable.

Its been proven they can survive hars circumstances, but whats the point if they can survive but not germinate into a new fungi?

If its can survive and not germanite, then its just a dead "thing" that survives...?

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Just to make things even more complicated :

I quote from a book (biology and pathlogy of botrytis) : "Under moist conditions and without added nutrients, the chlamydospores germinated on the leaves by microconidia wich remained dormant. When fresh nutrtients were supplied to the chlamydospores, they germinated with hyphae penetrating the host or they produced a new crop of macroconidia."

Lol, so you have chlamydospores that not only germinate, but also produce micro and or microcondidia?
Its getting a bit complicated now.

And I mean: it germinated on the leaves by microcondia wich remained dormant? How can it germinate if the conidia remained dormant? If they are dormant, then they dont germinate at all?

Or do they mean the chlamydospores themself germinated and by this they produced microconidia and those on their turn simply stayed dormant?

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Alot of questions to ponder - for which there's not an obvious answer.

You can't alway take what's written as reality. You have to wonder what were the data/observations that led the writer to assume conidia were produced, why these were chlamydospores in the first place, etc. With your interest, suggest you contact these guys directly. Look them up at their institutions and email them.

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Definition from the 9th edition "Dictionary of the fungi" (the dictionary every mycologist should have ):

chlamydospore, an asexual 1-celled spore (preliminary for perennation, not dissemination) originating endogenously and singly within part of a pre-existing cell, by the contraction of the protoplast and possessing an inner secondary and often thickened hyaline or brown wall, usually impregnated with hydrophobic material.

Means: are produced mainly to survive adverse conditions in soil etc. (for some years)...but they can germinate very well in-vitro in many species!

conidia are produced from specialized structures called "conidiogenous cells" in a wide variety of ways. The conidiogenous cells usually are an "end-point" of the mycelium. So the difference is the production: conidia from special cells at an end of a hyphae, clamydospores within the hyphae.

So your book is right and you can trust things written there about clamydospores

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Ah yes - it's geberg - always the pedant. As a mycologist I of course have Ainsworth. This text, as with any dictionary, establishes common meanings to facilitate communication. It does not delineate the technical.
Again to the eager pito - continue to read the primary literature - science is a continuing process of discovery and is not limited to a decades old dictionary - however good it is.

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microconidia

chlamydospores1

chlam2

chlam3

chlam4

just some links that might be interesting.
I find it strange that you (jorge1907) didnt know about the germination of chlamydospores (its old news really).

And the first one is intersting, it speaks about the sexual use of microconidia.

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pito for me as computer dummy : do I have to be registered to open the files? Otherwise my firewall is blocking access....

And if you have fungi producing clamydospores....you can often see them germinating after transferring older cultures into liquid medium

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I normally use another hosting service (wich is easier to use)


But you do not need to register to use this one, although its a bit harder to download the files.

You simple click on the link, then you scroll a bit down, and click on : dowload with filefactory basic
then you enter the numbers and click on continue and then you click on download.

So its free.

And there is no spyware or anthing else.
The only irritating thing that happens are the banners that appear (the advertisements).

Its possible that your pc indeed blocks those links :s

I'll try to add a few other links too wich are easier to use.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?1rxzcm8y1ux

here is another link, this one is easier.

And jorge1907, you should really read the text about botrytis and the microconidia acting as spermatia!
I think that would be a very intersting text for u.
(concidering our other discussion in the "male or female in fungi?, spermatia" topic)

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thanks pito and thanks for the very interesting discussion. I have read the text - didn't find it compelling to the interpretation.

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