SPORE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does spore mean? 

• SPORE (noun)
  The noun SPORE has 1 sense:

1. a small usually single-celled asexual reproductive body produced by many nonflowering plants and fungi and some bacteria and protozoans and that are capable of developing into a new individual without sexual fusion

  Familiarity information: SPORE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPORE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small usually single-celled asexual reproductive body produced by many nonflowering plants and fungi and some bacteria and protozoans and that are capable of developing into a new individual without sexual fusion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Context example:

a sexual spore is formed after the fusion of gametes

Hypernyms ("spore" is a kind of...):

agamete (an asexual reproductive cell)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spore"):

basidiospore (a sexually produced fungal spore borne on a basidium)

endospore (a small asexual spore that develops inside the cell of some bacteria and algae)

carpospore (a nonmotile spore of red algae)

chlamydospore (thick-walled asexual resting spore of certain fungi and algae)

conidiospore; conidium (an asexually produced fungal spore formed on a conidiophore)

oospore (a thick-walled sexual spore that develops from a fertilized oosphere in some algae and fungi)

resting spore (a spore of certain algae or fungi that lies dormant; may germinate after a prolonged period)

tetraspore (one of the four asexual spores produced within a sporangium)

zoospore (an asexual spore of some algae and fungi that moves by means of flagella)

fern seed (the asexual spore of ferns that resembles dust; once thought to be seeds and to make the possessor invisible)

pollen (the fine spores that contain male gametes and that are borne by an anther in a flowering plant)

microspore (smaller of the two types of spore produced in heterosporous plants; develops in the pollen sac into a male gametophyte)

macrospore; megaspore (larger of the two types of spore produced in heterosporous plants; develops in ovule into a female gametophyte)

aeciospore (spore of a rust fungus formed in an aecium)

ascospore (sexually produced fungal spore formed within an ascus)

zygospore (a plant spore formed by two similar sexual cells)

 Context examples 

This species is nonmotile, non-spore forming, indole and catalase negative, does not hydrolyze esculin and is susceptible to penicillin.

(Bacteroides tectus, NCI Thesaurus)

Bacillus bacteria form spores that can survive harsh environments and commonly are ingested naturally with vegetables, allowing them to temporarily grow in the intestine.

(Study finds probiotic Bacillus eliminates Staphylococcus bacteria, National Institutes of Health)

This species is motile, spore forming, and catalase positive, hydrolyzes casein, starch, and gelatin, and produces the toxin cereulide.

(Bacillus cereus, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is nonmotile, non-spore forming, indole positive, hydrolyzes starch and esculin, produces hydrogen sulfide, does not reduce nitrate and ferments melezitose and cellobiose.

(Bacteroides ovatus, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is non-motile, spore forming, oxidase, urease and catalase negative, indole positive and hydrolyzes esculin.

(Bacteroides faecis, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is nonmotile, non-spore forming, requires cellulose or cellobiose to grow, does not reduce nitrate, does not hydrolyze starch, and is catalase, urease, gelatinase, and indole negative.

(Bacteroides cellulosolvens, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is nonmotile, non-spore forming, catalase negative, resistant to penicillin, hydrolyzes esculin, indole negative and does not produce hydrogen sulfide.

(Bacteroides caccae, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is nonmotile, non-spore forming, indole negative, does not ferment carbohydrates, reduces nitrate, and hydrolyzes esculin, but not starch.

(Bacteroides capillosus, NCI Thesaurus)

This specis is non-spore forming, non-motile, does not hydrolyze esculin, is indole negative and nitrate is not reduced.

(Bacteroides dorei, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is nonmotile, non-spore forming, produces indole, hydrolyzes esculin and starch, reduces resazurin, but not neutral red or nitrate, produces hydrogen sulfate, ferments both melezitose and cellobiose, and is penicillin resistant.

(Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, NCI Thesaurus)