spori

Spori is a term that may appear in some languages or texts as a plural form related to spores or spore-producing structures, but it is not a standard or widely used term in contemporary English biology. In English, the common words are spore for a single unit and spore-related structures such as sporangium or sporulation for the process.

In biological usage, spores are reproductive or dispersal units that can survive in harsh conditions and germinate into new organisms when conditions improve. True spores occur in fungi, certain algae, mosses, liverworts, and ferns. Fungal spores can be produced sexually or asexually, with different categories such as conidia (asexual), sporangiospores (produced inside a sporangium), and the sexual spores like ascospores and basidiospores. Bacterial spores, known as endospores, are a different category, formed inside the bacterial cell to endure extreme environments.

The term spori should not be confused with sori, a botanical term referring to clusters of sporangia typically found on the undersides of fern fronds. Sori are a structural feature related to spore production and dispersal in ferns, whereas spori as a plural form is not a standard nomenclature in modern biology.

Beyond biology, spori can also appear as a surname or place name in various regions, though these uses are unrelated to the scientific concept of spores.

See also: spore, sporangium, sporulation, ascospores, basidiospores, endospore, sori.