Difference Between Arthrospores and Chlamydospore

The key difference between arthrospores and chlamydospore is that arthrospores are isolated vegetative cells that have passed into the resting state while chlamydospores are thick-walled resting spores formed within the hyphae.

Fungi are eukaryotic filamentous organisms that have chitin in their cell walls. They are capable of reproducing via both sexual and asexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction takes place mainly by the production of spores. In fact, it is the most common type of reproduction seen in fungi. There are several types of spores as conidiospores, chlamydospores, arthrospores, sporangiospores and blastospores. Arthrospores are vegetative cells of the hyphae, which are converted into resting state. They are produced by the breaking up of fungal hyphae into isolated vegetative cells. Therefore, they are not true spores. Chlamydospores are thick-walled large resting spores of some fungi that are formed by thickening of the cell wall of the hyphal compartment.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Arthrospores 
3. What is Chlamydospore
4. Similarities Between Arthrospores and Chlamydospore
5. Side by Side Comparison – Arthrospores and Chlamydospore in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What are Arthrospores?

Arthrospores are vegetative cells that are converted into the resting state. They are produced by the breaking off of the last cell of fungal hyphae. Therefore, arthrospores formation takes place from pre-existing hypha via fragmentation. Generally, they are considered as conidia or asexual spores. But they are not true spores. They are just vegetative cells that have transformed into resting state, but they can disperse as fungal propagules.

Since arthrospores are formed from the vegetative cells, they are genetically identical to the parent hyphae. Also, they are produced by the mitotic cell division. No meiosis is involved during the formation.

What is Chlamydospore?

Chlamydospores are a type of thallospores similar to arthrospores. But they are formed by surrounding the hyphal compartments by a thick-walled before fragmentation. Apical hyphal compartments enlarge, become spherical, and then the cell walls become thickened and pigmented. Therefore, chlamydospores are thick-walled large resting spores of several types of fungi such as Candida, Panus and various Mortierellales species.

Chlamydospores are genetically identical to parent hyphae. They are able to survive under unfavourable conditions. Hence, they develop when the conditions are unfavourable for normal growth.  Usually, chlamydospores are dark-coloured, spherical and have a smooth surface. Furthermore, they are multicellular. Their cytoplasm has food reserves in order to consume during unfavourable conditions. They are also resistant to different chemicals.

What are the Similarities Between Arthrospores and Chlamydospore?

• Arthrospores and chlamydospores are two types of asexual fungal spores.
• They act as resting spores.
• Both usually develop under unfavourable conditions for somatic growth.
• They are thallospores formed from pre-existing hyphae.

What is the Difference Between Arthrospores and Chlamydospore?

Arthrospores are isolated vegetative cells of fungi that have passed into resting state. Meanwhile, chlamydospores are thick-walled, large resting spores of several kinds of fungi. So, this is the key difference between arthrospores and chlamydospore. Besides, arthrospores are formed by the breaking off of the last cells of fungal hyphae while chlamydospores are formed by enlarging, rounding off and thickening the cell walls of the terminal cell of the hypha.

Moreover, unlike arthrospores, chlamydospores have characteristic thick walls which are pigmented. Also, another difference between arthrospores and chlamydospore is that the arthrospores separate from the hyphae during the formation. But, in contrast, the chlamydospores are released after hyphal death.

Below infographic summarizes the differences between arthrospores and chlamydospore.

Summary – Arthrospores vs Chlamydospore

Arthrospores and chlamydospores are two types of asexual spores of fungi. They are thallospores formed from the differentiation of pre-existing hyphae. Arthrospores are formed by the fragmentation of fungal hyphae into compartments separated by septa. Chlamydospores are formed by the surrounding the hyphal compartments by a thick wall before hyphal fragmentation. Thus, this is the key difference between arthrospores and chlamydospore.

Reference:

1. “Fungi.” The Virtual Edge. Uwyo.Edu, 2020, Available here.
2. “Asexual Spore – An Overview | Sciencedirect Topics”. Sciencedirect.Com, 2020, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Arthrospores fungi typically oidium” By Kiwenga@alice.it – Own work (CC BY 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “C albicans en” By Y tambe – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia