Glossary
Here is a glossary of mycological terms I have used in this website. Just click on the letter below which corresponds to the first letter of the word you are looking for. Hope you find it useful! (Modified from Introductory Mycology, Alexopoulos et al., 1996).
Aerobic Conditions with oxygen.
Amoeba Unicellular tropic stage of slime moulds.
Anaerobic Conditions without oxygen.
Arthrospore A spore resulting from the fragmentation of a hypha.
Ascospore A meiospore borne in an ascus.
Ascus A cell generally carrying a number of ascospores (typically eight) formed by free-cell formation - character of Ascomycota.
Asexual Reproduction not involving meiosis.
Basidiospore A meiospore borne on the outside of a basidium.
Basidium Structure produced by basidiomycetes on which spore formation occurs.
Binding hyphae Thick walled, typically aseptate, highly branched vegetative hyphae.
Character Variable feature of a given taxon.
Chytrid General term used to describe a member of the phyla Chytridomycota.
Clamp connection A bridge-like hyphal connection involved in maintaining the dikaryotic condition.
Colony Coherent mycelium or mass of cells, like yeast cells, of one origin.
Deuteromycetes Fungi that can only reproduce asexually.
Dikaryon A pair of closely associated, sexually compatible nuclei, may or may not be derived from a different parent hypha or cell.
Dispersal Transport of spores to other sites.
Endomycorrhiza Mycorrhiza in which the fungal hyphae penetrate cell walls of host plant.
Endophyte A fungus living within plants, often without causing visible symptoms.
Fission Cytoplasmic division of a cell to form two cells, a form of asexual reproduction.
Flagellum Hair-like structure with internal microtubules, surrounded by plasma membrane, used for cell movement.
Fragmentation Segmentation of a thallus into a number of fragments each capable of growing into a new individual, a form of asexual reproduction.
Fruiting body Any complex fungal structure that contains or bears spores.
Gamete Differentiated sex cell or nucleus that fuses with another during sexual reproduction.
Genus Taxonomic rank that includes one or more species.
Heterogametes Male and female gametes that are morphologically distinguishable.
Homologous character Attribute that has common evolutionary history.
Host A living organism harbouring a symbiont.
Hypha Unit of structure for most fungi.
Hyphal body Portion of Mycelium that becomes separated from remainder of thallus.
Imperfect state Asexual state of a fungus, also known as anamorph in a life cycle.
Ingroup A group of taxa generally considered to be monophyletic.
Karyogamy Fusion of two nuclei.
Lichen Combination of algae and fungus, appears to be an individual.
Medium Substrate of balanced chemical composition used for growing microorganisms.
Meiospore A spore formed after meiosis
Meiosporangium A sporangium in which meiosis occurs (reference to certain Chytrids).
Mushroom Fleshy, sometimes tough, umbrella like basidiocarp of certain Basidiomycota.
Mycelium Mass of hyphae constituting the body (thallus) of a fungus.
Mycology Study of fungi.
Mycorrhiza Symbiotic association between hyphae of certain fungi and absorptive organs, usually plant roots.
Necrotrophic Growing by first killing the host organism or mycelium.
Outgroup One or more taxa considered to be outside the monophyletic group of interest.
Paraphyletic group A group in which some descendants are not included.
Perfect state Sexual state of a fungus, also known as the teleomorph in a life cycle.
Plasmodium A naked, multinucleate mass of protoplasm that moves and feeds in a amoeboid fashion.
Polyphyletic Not sharing a common ancestor.
Resource Material external to the fungus that can be used for growth.
Rhizoid A short, thin branch of thallus, superficially resembling a root.
Rust fungus Fungus belonging to the Uredinales.
Saprobe Organism that utilizes dead organic material for food.
Septate With more or less regularly occurring cross-walls.
Septum A cross-wall in a hypha that develops centripetally.
Slime mould Common term for members of Dictyosteliomycota, Acrasiomycota, Plasmodiophoromycota and Myxomycota.
Smut fungi Fungus belonging to the Ustilaginomycetes.
Species Group of closely related individuals, resembling one another in certain inherited characteristics.
Spermatium Non-motile, uninucleate, spore-like male structure that empties its contents into a receptive female structure during plasmogamy (similar to a gamete).
Spore A minute propagating unit functioning as a seed, does not contain pre-formed embryo.
Substrate Any substance or material from which a fungus can obtain nutrients.
Symbiosis Mutualistic combination of two or more organisms.
Thallus Relatively simple plant body devoid of stems, leaves and roots. In fungi, the somatic phase.
Toadstool A member of the Agaricales or Boletales with an inedible fruiting body.
Uredospore Dikaryotic spore of rust fungi produced in the second host and capable of reinfecting it.
Vegetative Assimilative phase in fungi, structure or function as distinguished from the reproductive.
White rot Fungal decay of wood in which both cellulose and lignin are broken down.
Yeast Single-celled fungus that reproduces by budding or fission.
Zoospores A motile, asexually produced spore.
Zygote A diploid cell resulting from the union of two haploid cells.