Lesson 13 What are spores?

Have you ever seen “fuzz” growing on stale bread? If you have, you have seen bread mold. Mold is a many celled organism. Mold is much like yeast, but it doesn’t reproduce through budding.

Molds reproduce by special reproductive cells called spores. The cells of mold grow many thread like branches. Some grow down into the food, very much like roots.

The “roots” take in food for the mold. Other threads grow up. At the top of these are tiny balls called spore cases. Spore cases contain thousands of spores.

Spores are reproductive cells Spores are reproductive cells. A mold spore is a special cell that can reproduce other mold plants. When a spore case grows to full size, it bursts open. Spores are very light weight, so the slightest movement of air can make a spore travel a very long way.

Spores land on everything. They are all around you, and even on you! When spores land on food, and the temperature and moisture are right, the spores grow. They grow into new mold plants.

Other organisms, such as mushrooms and some plants, reproduce by spores. Reproduction by spores is still another form of asexual reproduction. It is the simplest kind of reproduction that uses special reproductive cells.