sporebearing

Sporebearing refers to organisms that reproduce using spores, microscopic units capable of developing into a new individual. Spores are produced by a wide range of life forms, including fungi, bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), ferns and some algae, as well as certain bacteria that form endospores. Spores are often resistant to environmental stress, enabling dispersal by wind, water, or animals and allowing survival during unfavorable conditions.

In fungi, spores are generated in specialized structures such as sporangia (often producing asexual spores), asci (producing sexual ascospores) and basidia (producing sexual basidiospores). In bryophytes and ferns, spores are produced in sporangia on the sporophyte; ferns typically bear many spores on the undersides of fronds within clusters called sori. The life cycles of sporebearing plants and fungi commonly feature an alternation of generations, with haploid spores germinating to form a new organism that can reproduce sexually or asexually.

Bacteria can also be spore-forming, notably those that produce endospores as a survival strategy under harsh conditions. These spores enable persistence in a dormant state and can resist heat and desiccation, returning to active growth when conditions improve.

Spores differ from seeds in that they usually lack stored nutrients and embryonic structures; seeds contain an embryo with nutritive tissue. Sporebearing organisms play crucial ecological roles in decomposition, nutrient cycling, symbiotic relationships, and, in some cases, human disease or industry.