filamentous growth

A mode of growth where a microbe lengthens its initial tubular shape as one long filament. At certain intervals the tube will branch in some species and eventually expand in a number of directions. As the microbe grows, copies of the genome are made and laid down along the filament. Cross walls may be laid down between genomes, but this is not always true. Filamentous growth is found in the fungi and actinomycetes