Gonidial
Gonidal is an adjective used in biology to describe anything related to gonidia, the reproductive cells that produce new individuals in certain algae, fungi, and other protists. The term can refer to gonidial cells themselves, gonidial tissues, or developmental processes in which gonidia give rise to offspring.
The word derives from gonidium, from Greek gonidion meaning seed or offspring, with the adjectival suffix -al.
In colonial and multicellular algae, such as some volvocine species, gonidia are specialized reproductive cells. They
In modern texts, the term is most often encountered in descriptive botany and historical literature. Authors
Gonidal usage is relatively rare outside algal study, and its precise meaning can vary by lineage. See