Hyphal growth unit

It is also possible to observe hyphal growth through microscopy measuring tip growth and branching rates of mycelium. From these data the hyphal growth unit and the peripheral growth zone can be calculated. The hyphal growth unit (G), which is the average length of hypha that is required to support tip growth, is defined as the ratio between the total length of mycelium and the total number of tips:

                               Total number of tips/Total length of the mycelium = Hyphal growth unit

In most fungi the hyphal growth unit includes the tip compartment plus two or three subapical compartments. Ratio increases exponentially from germination but stabilizes to give a constant figure for a particular strain under any given set of environmental conditions.