SCLEROTIUM

Sclerotium

A sclerotium is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant until favorable growth conditions return. Sclerotia initially were mistaken for individual organisms and described as separate species until Louis René Tulasne proved in 1853 that sclerotia are only a stage in the life cycle of some fungi. Further investigation showed that this stage appears in many fungi belonging to many diverse groups. Sclerotia are important in the understanding of the life cycle and reproduction of fungi, as a food ...

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sclerotium

Noun

  1. A compact mass of hardened mycelium stored with reserve food material that, in some higher fungi such as ergot, becomes detached and remains dormant until a favourable opportunity for growth occurs.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: sclerotium
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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