2i- Costs and benefits of sexual and asexual reproduction Flashcards

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1
Q

What are two costs of sexual reproduction?

A
  • males are unable to produce offspring
  • only half of each parents genome is passed onto offspring which disrupts
    successful parental genomes
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2
Q

Why do benefits outweigh costs in sexual reproduction?

A

Due to an increase in genetic variation in the population

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3
Q

What does genetic variation provide and why is this important?

A

The raw materials required for adaptation, this gives sexually reproducing organisms a better chance of survival under changing selection pressures

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4
Q

What may co-evolutionary interactions between parasites and hosts select for?

A

Sexually reproducing hosts

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5
Q

What happens if hosts reproduce sexually?

A

The genetic variation in their offspring reduces the chances that all will be susceptible to infection by parasite

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6
Q

What kind of hosts have greater fitness?

A

Those that are better able to resist and tolerate parasitism

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7
Q

What kind of parasites have better fitness?

A

Those that are better able to feed, reproduce and find new hosts

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8
Q

Why can asexual reproduction be a successful strategy?

A

As whole genomes are passed on from parent to offspring

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9
Q

What can happen in asexual reproduction?

A

Just one parent can produce daughter cells and establish a colony of virtually unlimited size over time

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10
Q

When is maintaining the genome of a parent particularly an advantage?

A

In very narrow, stable niches or when re-colonising disturbed habitats

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11
Q

What are two examples of asexual reproduction in eukaryotes?

A
  • vegetative cloning in plants

- parthenogenesis in lower plants and animals that lack fertilisation

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12
Q

What can be said about the amount of offspring produced in asexual reproduction?

A

Offspring can be produced more often and in larger numbers

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13
Q

What is parthenogenesis?

A

Reproduction from a female gamete without fertilisation

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14
Q

Where is parthenogenesis more common?

A

In cooler climates, which are disadvantageous to parasites, or regions of low parasite density or diversity

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15
Q

What is a negative of asexual reproduction?

A

Asexually reproducing populations are not able to adapt easily to changes in their environment, but mutations can occur that provide some degree of variation and enable some natural selection and evolution to occur

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16
Q

What mechanism can organisms that reproduce principally by asexual reproduction also have and why?

A

Mechanisms for horizontal gene transfer between individuals to increase variation, for example the plasmids of bacteria and yeast

17
Q

Prokaryotes can can exchange genetic material horizontally, what can this result in?

A

Faster evolutionary change than in organisms that only use vertical transfer