Tetraspore

tetraspore

[′te·trə‚spȯr]

(botany)

One of the haploid asexual spores of the red algae formed in groups of four.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Tetraspore

 

an asexual spore characteristic of red algae and some brown algae (Dictyotales). Tetraspores are formed in groups of four in a tetrasporangium as a result of the meiosis of the nucleus. They arrange themselves in the shape of a tetrahedron or sometimes in the shape of a square or in a single line. Tetraspores lack organs of locomotion. After the spores settle, the thin sheath that encases them thickens and the spores germinate.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.