Teliospore (sometimes called teleutospore) is the thick-walled resting spore of some fungi (rusts and smuts), from which the basidium arises. They develop in telia (or teliosoruses).

Teliospores are usually dark-coloured, and consist of two dikaryote cells. As the spores germinate, the nuclei undergo karyogamy and thereafter meiosis, giving rise to four-celled basidia with haploid basidiospores.

See also

• Chlamydospore
• Urediniomycetes
• Ustilaginomycetes

Germ cells | Fungal morphology and anatomy | Mycology