Spores: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (2024)

FAQs

Spores: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia? ›

A spore is a cell that certain fungi, plants (moss, ferns), and bacteria produce. Certain bacteria make spores as a way to defend themselves. Spores have thick walls.

Definition/Introduction

Bacterial spores are the most dormant form of bacteria since they exhibit minimal metabolism and respiration, as well as reduced enzyme production. Typically, Gram-positive bacteria are best known for producing intracellular spores called endospores as a survival mechanism.

Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by breathing in spores of a fungus often found in bird and bat droppings. People usually get it from breathing in these spores when they become airborne during demolition or cleanup projects.

The endospore survives until a variety of environmental stimuli trigger germination, allowing outgrowth of a single vegetative bacterium. Infectious diseases such as anthrax, tetanus, gas gangrene, botulism, and pseudomembranous colitis are transmitted to humans by endospores.

However, bacterial endospores can be destroyed with two methods. The first method is destruction at high temperatures in their spore state. The second method is through triggering endospore germination back to active bacterial cells that are easily killed through traditional means of sterilization.

They also may contain significant amounts of mycotoxins. Diseases associated with inhalation of fungal spores include toxic pneumonitis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, tremors, chronic fatigue syndrome, kidney failure, and cancer.

ˈspȯr. : a primitive usually unicellular often environmentally resistant dormant or reproductive body produced by plants, fungi, and some microorganisms and capable of development into a new individual either directly or after fusion with another spore.

Three of these infections, blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, and coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) spread in different parts of the United States. Infections are caused by breathing in fungal spores from soil or dust. Many people breathe in the spores without ever getting sick but some people develop severe illness.

Exposure to a large number of mold spores may cause allergic symptoms such as watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, itching, coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, headache, and fatigue. Repeated exposure to mold can increase a person's sensitivity, causing more severe allergic reactions.

Certain bacteria make spores as a way to defend themselves. Spores have thick walls. They can resist high temperatures, humidity, and other environmental conditions. The bacteria Clostridia form spores.

Do bacterial spores cause illness? ›

Bacterial spores are much more resistant than their vegetative counterparts. The most dangerous spore-former is Clostridium botulinum which produces a potent neurotoxin that can prove fatal. The most common food poisoning from a spore-former is caused by C. perfringens.

Spore-forming bacteria include Bacillus (aerobic) and Clostridium (anaerobic) species. The spores of these species are dormant bodies that carry all the genetic material as is found in the vegetative form, but do not have an active metabolism.

Tetanus is an example of a disease caused by a spore-forming bacillus. Bacteria remain alive in the spore form, but are inactive. In the spore state, they cannot reproduce or cause disease. When conditions are again favorable, the bacteria become active and capable of causing disease.

Sterilization is the process of killing all microorganisms, including vegetative bacteria, viruses, fungi, and bacterial spores (dormant forms of microorganisms that are more resistant to heat and chemicals than their nondormant forms).

A 10% solution of household bleach is widely used for decontamination of surfaces and tools exposed to biological agents including B. anthracis spores.

As noted above, some chemical biocides kill spores by DNA damage, including formaldehyde and nitrous acid, as well as alkylating agents such as EtO.

Examples of spores can be listed based on the organisms producing them. For instance, fungi spores include zygospores, basidiospores, conidiophores, and ascospores. Bacteria spores include endospores, exospores, and myxospores. Spores produced by higher plants are microspores and megaspores.

Aerobic spore-formers found in the gut microbiota include members of the Bacillaceae family. ²³. Spore-forming bacilli are more commonly associated with the soil microbiome and their presence in the gut is associated with ingestion of food and water.

Synonyms. germ. seed. a packet of cabbage seed. embryo.