False colour scanning electron micrograph of tightly packed spores in a fragmenting sporangium of the bread mould, Rhizopus stolonifer. Spores circula

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False colour scanning electron micrograph of tightly packed spores in a fragmenting sporangium of the bread mould, Rhizopus stolonifer. Spores circulate freely in the air. When they alight on a favourable medium, they germinate a network of hyphae (threads). Their function is to absorb food for growth & for spore production. Rhizopus produces stolons, or aerial hyphae, which on contact with a medium grow rhizoids or \rootlets\". They anchor the fungus & absorb some water. Spores develop in saclike bodies, or sporangia. The wall fragments (white bits) under pressure from the maturing spores, releasing them for dispersal. Magnification: X 570 at 35mm size. Original is bw print b250/356."

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Size: 3543px × 5098px
Photo credit: © DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: bread, eumycota, fungal, fungi, fungus, mold, mould, mouldy, mycology, nature, naturemycology, rhizopus, sem, sporangium, spore, stolonifer