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CHARACTERISTICS OF FUNGI: ASEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE STRUCTURES

Fungi produce a wide range of reproductive structures (generically called FRUITING BODIES). The small black blobs in this photo (see the arrow) are fruiting bodies (called pycnidia in this case) of the fungus Septoria, which can cause spots on variety of different plants, including (in this photo) cucumber.

Within fruiting bodies, a fungus produces spores. Some fruiting bodies are asexual in nature. The spores produced in these fruiting bodies are NOT the result of recombination of genes from more than one fungal "parent". The spores are produced by a single fungal "parent" and thus when these spores germinate, they produce "offspring" that are genetically identical to the "parent" fungus.