Journal of Cell and Developmental Biology

Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or similar structure. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. In addition, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of hyphae from fungal spores, is also germination. Thus, in a general sense, germination can be thought of as anything expanding into greater being from a small existence or germ.