Gleba (/ˈɡliːbə/, fromLatinglaeba, glēba, "lump") is the fleshyspore-bearing inner mass of certainfungi such as thepuffball orstinkhorn.
The gleba is a solid mass of spores, generated within an enclosed area within thesporocarp. The continuous maturity of thesporogenous cells leave the spores behind as a powdery mass that can be easily blown away. The gleba may be sticky or it may be enclosed in a case (peridiole).[1]
It is a tissue usually found in an angiocarpous fruit-body, especiallygasteromycetes. Angiocarpous fruit-bodies usually consist of fruit enclosed within a covering that does not form a part of itself; such as thefilbert covered by its husk, or the acorn seated in itscupule. The presence of gleba can be found inearthballs andpuffballs. The gleba consists ofmycelium andbasidia and may also containcapillitium threads.[2]
Gleba found on the fruit body of species in the familyPhallaceae is typically gelatinous, often fetid-smelling, and deliquescent (becoming liquid from the absorption of water). It is formed on the exterior face of the cap or the upper part of the fruit body. The foul smell helps to attract insects that help disperse the spores. Chemicals that contribute to the odor includemethylmercaptan andhydrogen sulfide.[3]
Asubgleba is a "sterile, filamentous or chambered tissue which supports the gleba".[4]
As the spores mature, the sporogenous cells often liquify and/or disintegrate, leaving just the spores behind as a powdery mass that can easily blow away... In other cases, the gleba may be sticky, as in Sphaerobolus stellatus; or it may be enclosed in a case (called a peridiole), as in the Nidulariaceae.
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