Sporeling

Sporeling

A sporeling is a young plant or fungus produced by a germinated spore, similar to a seedling derived from a germinated seed. They occur in algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes and seedless vascular plants.

Sporeling development

Most spores germinate by first producing a germ-rhizoid or holdfast followed by a germ tube emerging from the opposite end. The germ tube develops into the hypha, protonema or thallus of the gametophyte.

In seedless vascular plants such as ferns and lycopodiophyta, the term "sporeling" refers to the young sporophyte growing on the gametophyte. These sporelings develop via an embryo stage from a fertilized egg inside an archegonium and depend on the gametophyte for their early stages of growth before becoming independent sporophytes. Young fern sporelings can often be found with the prothallus gametophyte still attached at the base of their fronds.

External links

* British Pteridological Society: [http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/bps/wof/wof.htm An introduction to ferns] (contains a picture of a sporeling fern attached to the prothallus)


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • sporeling — /spawr ling, spohr / n. Bot., Mycol. the young individual developed from a spore. [1905 10; SPORE + LING1, as in SEEDLING] * * * …   Universalium

  • sporeling — spore·ling …   English syllables

  • sporeling — ˈspōrliŋ noun ( s) Etymology: spore (I) + ling : a young new individual developed from a spore; usually : a young sporophyte : prothallium …   Useful english dictionary

  • bryophyte — bryophytic /bruy euh fit ik/, adj. /bruy euh fuyt /, n. Bot. any of the Bryophyta, a phylum of nonvascular plants comprising the true mosses and liverworts. [1875 80; < NL Bryophyta name of the group; see BRYO , PHYTE] * * * Any of the green,… …   Universalium

  • Germination — is the process whereby growth emerges from a period of dormancy. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. However, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, for example the… …   Wikipedia

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  • Seed — A seed Audio IPA|en us seed.ogg|/ˈsiːd/ (in some plants, referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and… …   Wikipedia

  • Spore — For other uses, see Spore (disambiguation). Spores produced in a sporic life cycle. In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form… …   Wikipedia

  • Sporogenesis — is the production of spores in biology. The term is also used to refer to the process of reproduction via spores. Reproductive spores are formed in many eukaryotic organisms, such as plants, algae and fungi, during their normal reproductive life… …   Wikipedia

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