Question

Asexual reproduction in fungi takes place by
A. Endospores
B. Gametangia
C. Conidiospore
D. None of the above

Answer 1

Hint:- Fungi are eukaryotic organisms. Their cells contain membrane-bound organelles and nuclei. They were included in the plant kingdom; however, as they lack chlorophyll and are distinguished by unique structural and physiological features they're now distinguished from all other living organisms, including animals, by their principal modes of vegetative growth and nutrient intake.

Complete Answer:-
Following a period of intensive growth, fungi enter a reproductive phase by forming and releasing vast quantities of spores. Spores are usually single cells produced by fragmentation of the mycelium or within specialized structures (sporangia, gametangia, sporophores, etc.). Spores is also produced either directly by asexual methods or indirectly by amphimixis. Amphimixis in fungi, as in other living organisms, involves the fusion of two nuclei that are brought together when two sex cells (gametes) unite. Agamogenesis, which is less complicated and more direct, is also accomplished by various methods.

In asexual reproduction, one individual gives rise to a genetic duplicate of the progenitor without a genetic contribution from another individual. The only method of reproduction of fungi is fragmentation. Some single-celled fungi reproduce by cellular division, or fission, within which one cell undergoes nuclear division and splits into two daughter cells; after some growth, these cells divide, and eventually a population of cells forms. In filamentous fungi the mycelium may fragment into a variety of segments, each of which is capable of growing into a brand new individual. Within the laboratory, fungi are commonly propagated on a layer of solid agar inoculated either with spores or with fragments of mycelium.
The more primitive fungi produce spores in sporangia, which are saclike sporophores whose entire cytoplasmic contents cleave into spores, called sporangiospores. Thus, they differ from more advanced fungi in this their asexual spores are endogenous. Sporangiospores are either naked and flagellated (zoospores) or walled and non-motile (aplanospores). Zoospores produced by terrestrial fungi are released after a rain from the sporangia within which they're borne and swim for a time within the rainwater between soil particles or on the wet surfaces of plants, where the sporangia are formed by parasitic fungi. After a while, the zoospores lose their flagella, surround themselves with walls, and encyst. Each cyst germinates by producing a germ tube. The germ tube may develop a mycelium or a plant organ, looking at the species and the environmental conditions.

The more advanced fungi don't produce motile spores of any kind, while a number of them are aquatic in fresh or marine waters. In these, asexually produced spores (conidia) are produced exogenously and are formed terminally or laterally on spore-producing hyphae called conidiophores. Conidiophores is also arranged singly on the hyphae or is also grouped in special asexual fruiting bodies, like flask-shaped pycnidia, mattresslike acervuli, cushion-shaped sporodochia, or sheaflike synnemata.

Therefore, the correct option is c, conidiospore.

Note:- Although fragmentation, fission, and budding are methods of agamogenesis during a number of fungi, the bulk reproduces asexually by the formation of spores. Spores that are produced asexually are often termed mitospores, and such spores are produced during a sort of way.