Asexual Reproduction Lecture Notes

Flashcards on Asexual Reproduction

What is Asexual Reproduction?

A form of reproduction where only one parent is needed to produce offspring, without the fusion of gametes, resulting in genetically identical clones.

What are the key characteristics of Asexual Reproduction?

Involves one parent only, no gametes or fertilisation, offspring are clones, common in unicellular organisms, fungi, plants, and some animals.

What are the advantages of asexual reproduction?

Faster reproduction, efficient energy use, large number of offspring in a short time, useful in stable environments, and can help plants spread without seeds.

What are the disadvantages of asexual reproduction?

No genetic variation, Lower ability to adapt, Overcrowding and competition.

What is Binary Fission?

The organism duplicates its DNA and splits into two equal halves to create identical cells.

What is Budding?

A small bud forms on the parent organism, grows, and breaks off to become a new organism.

What is Spore Formation?

Organisms produce spores – tiny cells that can survive harsh conditions and grow into new individuals when conditions are right.

What is Vegetative Propagation?

New plants grow from parts of the parent plant like runners, bulbs, or tubers.

What is Fragmentation?

The body of the parent breaks into parts, and each part can grow into a whole new organism.

What is Parthenogenesis?

Female organisms produce offspring from unfertilised eggs.

What are Runners?

Long horizontal stems that grow above the ground where new plants form at nodes.

What are Tubers?

Swollen underground stems storing food where new plants grow from buds on the tuber.

What are Bulbs?

Short stems surrounded by fleshy leaves where new bulbs grow off the parent.

What are Cuttings?

A piece of a plant (stem or leaf) is planted, and it grows into a new plant.

What is Mitosis?

A type of cell division where a single cell divides to make two genetically identical daughter cells. Each new cell has the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.

What happens during DNA replication in Mitosis?

The cell copies its chromosomes so each new cell will have a complete set.

What happens when Chromosomes separate during Mitosis?

Chromosomes separate to opposite sides of the cell during Mitosis.

What happens with the Nuclei during Mitosis?

Two new nuclei form, one at each end during Mitosis.

What happens with Cytoplasm during Mitosis?

Cytoplasm splits (cytokinesis), forming two identical cells during Mitosis.

What living thing reproduces by Binary Fission?

Bacteria like E. coli reproduce by it.

What living thing uses Spore Formation?

Rhizopus produce sporangia filled with spores that float in the air and grow in new places and use it to reproduce.

How do Gardeners use Asexual reproduction?

Taking cuttings from healthy plants to grow new ones.

How do Komodo dragons use Asexual reproduction?

In rare cases, if no males are available, female can reproduce through parthenogenesis, producing all-female offspring.

Give a brief summary of the characteristics of Asexual Reproduction.

Requires 1 parent, no gametes, no genetic variation, fast reproduction, low energy use, and examples include bacteria, fungi, plants, some animals.

Give a brief summary of the characteristics of Sexual Reproduction.

Requires 2 parents, yes, sperm + egg gametes involved, yes genetic variation, slower reproduction, high energy use, and examples include humans, most animals, flowering plants.