What is "spore"

Spore \Spore\ (sp[=o]r), n. [Gr. ? a sowing, seed, from ? to sow. Cf. Sperm.]

1. (Bot.)

   1. One of the minute grains in flowerless plants, which are analogous to seeds, as serving to reproduce the species.

      Note: Spores are produced differently in the different classes of cryptogamous plants, and as regards their nature are often so unlike that they have only their minuteness in common. The peculiar spores of diatoms (called auxospores) increase in size, and at length acquire a siliceous coating, thus becoming new diatoms of full size. Compare Macrospore, Microspore, O["o]spore, Resting spore, Sph[ae]rospore, Swarmspore, Tetraspore, Zo["o]spore, and Zygospore.

   2. An embryo sac or embryonal vesicle in the ovules of flowering plants.

2. (Biol.)

   1. A minute grain or germ; a small, round or ovoid body, formed in certain organisms, and by germination giving rise to a new organism; as, the reproductive spores of bacteria, etc.

   2. One of the parts formed by fission in certain Protozoa. See Spore formation, belw. Spore formation.

      1. (Biol) A mode of reproduction resembling multiple fission, common among Protozoa, in which the organism breaks up into a number of pieces, or spores, each of which eventually develops into an organism like the parent form.
         --Balfour.

      2. The formation of reproductive cells or spores, as in the growth of bacilli.

"reproductive body in flowerless plants corresponding to the seeds of flowering ones," 1836, from Modern Latin spora, from Greek spora "a seed, a sowing, seed-time," related to sporas "scattered, dispersed," sporos "a sowing," and speirein "to sow, scatter," from PIE *spor-, variant of root *sper- (4) "to strew" (see sprout (v.)).

n. 1 A reproductive particle, usually a single cell, released by a fungus, alga, or plant that may germinate into another. 2 A thick resistant particle produced by a bacterium or protist to survive in harsh or unfavorable conditions. vb. To produce spores.

n. a small usually single-celled reproductive body produced by many plants and some protozoans and that develops into a new individual; "a sexual spore is formed after the fusion of gametes"

In biology, a spore is a unit of asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavorable conditions. By contrast, gametes are units of sexual reproduction. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, fungi and protozoa. Bacterial spores are not part of a sexual cycle but are resistant structures used for survival under unfavourable conditions. Myxozoan spores release amoebulae into their hosts for parasitic infection, but also reproduce within the hosts through the pairing of two nuclei within the plasmodium, which develops from the amoebula.

Spores are usually haploid and unicellular and are produced by meiosis in the sporangium of a diploid sporophyte. Under favourable conditions the spore can develop into a new organism using mitotic division, producing a multicellular gametophyte, which eventually goes on to produce gametes. Two gametes fuse to form a zygote which develops into a new sporophyte. This cycle is known as alternation of generations.

The spores of seed plants, however, are produced internally and the megaspores, formed within the ovules and the microspores are involved in the formation of more complex structures that form the dispersal units, the seeds and pollen grains.

A spore is an asexual biological reproductive mechanism.

Spore may also refer to:

Spore was an action maze game for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, released by Mastertronic in 1987, and developed by Jim Baguley, with music composed by David Whittaker.

The game included a level editor for users to create their own maps.

Spore was an MS-DOS video game developed by Mike T. Snyder and published by Flogsoli Productions that fused Breakout with a text adventure, and included spreadsheet puzzles.

Spore is a magazine published by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) in English and French. It covers a wide range of agricultural topics and is extensively distributed and widely reproduced throughout African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and elsewhere. Originally known as the Bulletin of CTA it now styles itself as "the magazine for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries".

Spore was a noise rock band from Boston, Massachusetts formed in the wake of the early 1990s grunge movement. Spore were signed in 1993 on the Taang! Records label, the same label which initially signed The Lemonheads, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Mission of Burma, with whom the band released a 7 inch EP.

Lead singer Mona Elliot's voice has been described as channelling "anger and determination with a style heavily influenced by early Throwing Muses-era Kristin Hersh." The Spore song Fun, from the group's third album was included in the Natural Born Killers film, though it was not released on the official film soundtrack CD. The band was also known for sporting an image of André the Giant on their disc covers, with the image being similar to Shepard Fairey's well known pop art interpretation, Andre the Giant Has a Posse.

Elliot went on to form another well-regarded Boston-based band, Victory at Sea, in 1996. Ayal Naor started up the avant-garde band 27 with members of the Boston band Dirt Merchants, while also contributing on fellow Boston band Isis' critically acclaimed album Oceanic as well as touring with the band.

Spore is a 2008 life simulation, real-time strategy single-player god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright, released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Covering many genres including action, real-time strategy, and role-playing games (RPG), Spore allows a player to control the development of a species from its beginnings as a microscopic organism, through development as an intelligent and social creature, to interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture. It has drawn wide attention for its massive scope, and its use of open-ended gameplay and procedural generation. Throughout each stage, players are able to use various creators to produce content for their games. These are then automatically uploaded to the online Sporepedia and are accessible by other players for download.

Spore was released after several delays to generally favorable reviews. Praise was given for the fact that the game allowed players to create customized creatures, vehicles and buildings. However, Spore was criticized for its gameplay which was seen as shallow by many reviewers; GameSpot remarked: "Individual gameplay elements are extremely simple". Controversy surrounded Spore for SecuROM, its digital rights management software, which can potentially open the user's computer to security risks.

Spore is a fictional character that has appeared in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Spore first appeared in the pages of Wolverine in Wolverine Vol 2 #21 of February, in 1990, created by Archie Goodwin and John Byrne.