Types of Asexual Spores in Fungi

Sporangiospores

• Formed inside a sporangium (sac-like structure) on a sporangiophore

• produced by Zygomycota

• Rhizopus, Mucor

Conidia

• Formed externally on special hyphae called conidiophores (not in a sac)

• produced by Ascomycota, Deuteromycota

• Aspergillus, Penicillium

Arthroconidia

• Formed by fragmentation of septate hyphae into rectangular spores

• produced by some actinomycetes, fungi

• Geotrichum, Coccidioides

Chlamydospores

• Thick-walled, resistant spores formed from hyphal cells for survival

• produced by Ascomycota, Candida albicans

• Candida albicans (diagnostic clue)

Blastoconidia

• Formed by budding from parent cells (common in yeasts)

• produced by Yeasts

• Candida, Cryptococcus

Phialoconidia

• Conidia formed from a special flask-shaped cell called a phialide

• produced by Aspergillus, Fusarium

• Seen in mold