| Definition: |
The physiological and developmental changes that occur in a conidium or asexual spore following release from dormancy up to the earliest signs of development such as swelling of conidia, adhesion and nuclear decondensation followed by hyphal growth several hours later. In many genera of plant pathogenic fungi (e.g. Magnaporthe, Colletotrichum, Ustilago), swelling of the hyphal tips to form appressorium, metabolic activities including respiration, RNA and protein synthesis and trehalose breakdown and changes in cell wall composition can be detected in conidium germination. |