Question

Sporangiospores of Mucor are:
(a)Haploid
(b)Diploid
(c)Triploid
(d)Polyploid

Answer 1

Hint: Sporangiospores, as the name suggests, are the spores formed in the sporangium, a sac-like structure. They are asexual spores formed by division of cytoplasm.

Complete answer:
Sporangiospores of Mucor are haploid since it is formed by the meiosis (also known as reductional division) of a diploid sporophyte. Haploid means it contains only one set of chromosomes.
Sporangiospores are formed in favourable conditions when hyphae which are horizontal to the substratum (prostate hyphae) develop into erect hyphae. This development causes the accumulation of more cytoplasm and nuclei at the tip of erect hyphae and as a result, the tip swells up. This led to the formation of the young sporangium.
Afterwards, division of cytoplasm takes place and the dense fertile cytoplasm at the peripheral with many nuclei is known as sporeplasm and the central sterile cytoplasm with few nuclei is columella. A cleavage or division took place in sporeplasm, separating much of the cytoplasm with less no of nuclei. A cell wall is formed around it and results in the formation of many thin-walled multinucleate sporangiospores.
So, the correct answer is ‘haploid’.

Note: -This sporangiospores in Mucor is also known as ‘aplanospores’.
-When unfavourable conditions arrive, Mucor reproduces sexually and hence produces diploid gametes.