Basidiospores |
Spore category. Produced by mushrooms, puffballs, shelf fungi, rusts, smuts, and many other fungi. | |
| Distribution | Where Found | Mode of Dissemination |
| Ubiquitous; cosmopolitan. Approx. 1,200 genera. |
Saprophytes and plant pathogens. Gardens, forests, woodlands. /span> |
Wind; spore release (active mechanism) during periods of high humidity or rain. |
| Allergen | Potential Opportunist or Pathogen | Potential Toxin Production |
| Probably common. Type I allergies (hay fever, asthma). Type III hypersensitivity pneumonitis: Lycoperdonosis (puffball spores), Mushroom culture hypersensitivity. |
Asexual forms may cause rare opportunistic infections. The yeast Cryptococcus neoformans is a basidiomycete. |
Mushroom toxicosis (poisoning) is usually a result of ingestion of the following toxins: amanitins, monomethyl-hydrazine, muscarine, ibotenic acid, psilocybin. |
| Growth Indoors | Industrial Uses | Other Comments |
| Serpula lacrimans, the agent of "dry rot," and other fungi causing white and brown wood rot, grow and destroy the structural wood of buildings. Poria incrassata causes a particularly destructive dry rot in buildings. | Many mushrooms are edible, and very important in the food industries. | Occasionally, a benign, non-wood rotting mushroom will fruit inside a building, growing in some unique ecological niche if enough moisture is present. If mushrooms are found growing indoors we ask clients to submit the entire mushroom for identification. |
| Characteristics: Growth/Culture | Notes on Spore Trap Recognition | Notes on Tape Lift Recognition |
| Most Basidiomycetes will not fruit on laboratory media. Many will form arthrospores or sterile mycelia on laboratory media. | Most basidiospores have a distinctive asymmetrical attachment point. Many basidiomycetes have recognizable spores. Serpula, the agent of dry rot, with tan-orange basidiospores, can sometimes be identified on spore trap slides. | Except for the occasional finding of Serpula (above), basidiospores are rarely found on tape lifts, except as a part of normal influx of outdoor spores. |
| Photographs: | ||
|
||
| Definitions | References | Commentary | ||