Basidiospores
Spore category. Produced by mushrooms, puffballs, shelf fungi, rusts, smuts, and many other fungi.
Characteristics
Distribution
Ubiquitous;
cosmopolitan.
Approx. 1,200 genera.
Where Found
Saprophytes and plant pathogens.
Gardens, forests, woodlands.
Mode of Dissemination
Wind; spore release (active mechanism) during periods of high humidity or rain.
Growth Indoors
Serpula lacrimans, the agent of "dry rot," and other fungi causing white and brown wood rot, grow and destroy the structural wood of buildings. Poria incrassata causes a particularly destructive dry rot in buildings.
Industrial Uses
Many mushrooms are edible, and very important in the food industries.
Other Comments
Occasionally, a benign, non-wood rotting mushroom will fruit inside a building, growing in some unique ecological niche if enough moisture is present.
If mushrooms are found growing indoors we ask clients to submit the entire mushroom for identification.
Potential Health Effects
Allergens
Probably common.
Type I allergies (hay fever, asthma).
Type III hypersensitivity pneumonitis: Lycoperdonosis (puffball spores), Mushroom culture hypersensitivity.
Potential Opportunist or Pathogen
Asexual forms may cause rare opportunistic infections.
The yeast Cryptococcus neoformans is a basidiomycete.
Potential Toxin Production
Mushroom toxicosis (poisoning) is usually a result of ingestion of the following toxins: amanitins, monomethyl-hydrazine, muscarine, ibotenic acid, psilocybin.
Laboratory Notes
Growth/Culture Characterisics
Most Basidiomycetes will not fruit on laboratory media. Many will form arthrospores or sterile mycelia on laboratory media.
Spore Trap Recognition
Most basidiospores have a distinctive asymmetrical attachment point. Many basidiomycetes have recognizable spores. Serpula, the agent of dry rot, with tan-orange basidiospores, can sometimes be identified on spore trap slides.
Tape Lift Recognition
Except for the occasional finding of Serpula (above), basidiospores are rarely found on tape lifts, except as a part of normal influx of outdoor spores.