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Microphores of wild type Phycomyces. The photograph was taken under a 40X microscope. The microsporangia containing the spores are the brown spheres. Each microsporangium is supported by a microsporangiophore which is about 1 mm in length and contains about 10000 spores. Touching the sporangium will liberate the spores that will germinate under suitable conditions. The culture was incubated at 22°C in the dark and the photograph was taken after four days of growth. Microphore development is light dependent: Blue light inhibits microphorogenesis, and the photoreceptor is as sensitive as the human eye. Microphores do not develop in a culture grown under light. The gene products required for the photoresponses in Phycomyces are grouped in a phototransduction pathway. Macrophore development is also blue-light controlled.
Photograph by Luis M. Corrochano.

Next step in the life cycle: spores

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