Basidiospores in the context of "Nucleus (biology)"

The Basidiomycota (/bəˌsɪdi.oʊmaɪˈkoʊtə/) are one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. This division includes: agarics, puffballs, stinkhorns, bracket fungi, other polypores, jelly fungi, boletes, chanterelles, earth stars, smuts, bunts, rusts, mirror yeasts, and Cryptococcus, the human pathogenic yeast.

Basidiomycota are filamentous fungi composed of hyphae (except for basidiomycota-yeast) and reproduce sexually via the formation of specialized club-shaped end cells called basidia that normally bear external meiospores (usually four). These specialized spores are called basidiospores. However, some Basidiomycota are obligate asexual reproducers. Basidiomycota that reproduce asexually (discussed below) can typically be recognized as members of this division by gross similarity to others, by the formation of a distinctive anatomical feature (the clamp connection), cell wall components, and definitively by phylogenetic molecular analysis of DNA sequence data.

A basidium (pl.: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also called tertiary mycelia, which are highly coiled versions of secondary mycelia. A basidium usually bears four sexual spores called basidiospores. Occasionally the number may be two or even eight. Each reproductive spore is produced at the tip of a narrow prong or horn called a sterigma (pl. sterigmata), and is forcefully expelled at full growth.

The word basidium literally means "little pedestal". This is the way the basidium supports the spores. However, some biologists suggest that the structure looks more like a club. A partially grown basidium is known as a basidiole.

Sporobolomyces is a genus of fungi in the subdivision Pucciniomycotina. Species produce both yeast states and hyphal states. The latter form teliospores from which auricularioid (tubular and laterally septate) basidia emerge, bearing basidiospores. Yeast colonies are salmon-pink to red. Sporobolomyces species occur worldwide and have been isolated (as yeasts) from a wide variety of substrates. They produce ballistoconidia that are bilaterally symmetrical, they have Coenzyme Q₁₀ or Coenzyme Q₁₀(H₂) as their major ubiquinone, they lack xylose in whole-cell hydrolysates, and they cannot ferment sugars. One species, Sporobolomyces salmonicolor, is known to cause disease in humans.