J.4. Spore Germination 



s, 



'pores — specialized, self-contained, microscopic struc- 

 tures capable of initiating new growth — are the principal agent of 

 dispersal of fungi. Consequently, any consideration of ecology or of 

 the spread of economically important fungi must take spore germina- 

 tion into account. The control of plant diseases by protectant fungi- 

 cides is in essence the problem of inhibiting the germination of spores. 

 And, the transformation of a relatively inactive structure into an ac- 

 tively growing thallus poses some fundamental problems of interest to 

 biology as a whole. 



In this chapter, the several cytological and morphological types of 

 spore have been distinguished in the discussion only if some important 

 physiological aspect is specific to the type. In the long run, we may 

 suppose, such a practice — treating the rust fungus teliospore and the 

 myxomycete swarmspore alike — will prove indefensible. For the pres- 

 ent, however, the available information does not permit separate treat- 

 ment of the different spore forms, except in such special cases as the 

 dormant "resting" spores. 



It will be seen that, as usual in the fungi, the corpus of knowledge 

 is seriously out of balance. We find literally hundreds of studies of 

 temperature and water relations of the economically important fungi, 

 but such groups as the aquatic fungi, the fleshy basidiomycetes, and the 

 actinomycetes are virtually unknown in this dimension. More serious 

 still, concentration on well-known and easily determined environmen- 

 tal factors has meant relative neglect of the fundamental metabolic 



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