2.3 Flashcards
What are the advantages of sexual reproduction?
- greater genetic variation within sexually reproducing organisms
- provides some organisms with ability to adapt to changing conditions or survive new strains of disease
What are the disadvantages of sexual reproduction?
- half of population unable to produce offspring (males)
- each parents only able to pass 50% of genetic material rather than 100%
- gamete formation is random, disrupting successful parental genomes
What gives sexually reproducing organisms a better chance of surviving selection pressures?
genetic variation gives raw material for adaptation
How does sexual reproduction affect co-evolutionary relationship between parasite and host?
If host reproduces sexually, genetic variability in offspring reduces chances that all will be susceptible to parasite infections
What are the advantages of asexual reproduction?
- whole genomes passed from parent to offspring
- maintaining parent genome is and advantage in very narrow, stable niches or when re-colonising disturbed habitats
- faster method, 1 member of species needed
What are disadvantages of asexual reproduction?
- all offspring genetically identical (clones)
- if one gets infected, it spreads quickly
- not able to easily adapt to environmental changes, but mutations can occur, to provide variation and enable natural selection and evolution to occur
What do organisms that reproduce asexually have mechanisms for?
horizontal gene transfer between individuals to increase variation
e.g. plasmids of bacteria and yeasts
What is horizontal gene transfer?
prokaryotes can exchange genetic material within the same generation (horizontally), resulting in faster evolutionary change than in vertically transferring organisms (between generations)
What are examples of asexual reproduction in eukaryotes?
vegetative cloning in plants and parthenogenesis in lower plants and animals that lack fertilisation
What is benefit of asexual reproduction?
offspring can be produced more often and in larger numbers
What is parthenogenesis?
the development of an unfertilised egg into adult organism without egg/sperm fusion
the offspring will be haploid
What is vegetative propagation?
eukaryotic plants have ability to produce offspring from 1 parent plant
Tubers - potatoes
Bulbs - daffodils
Offsets - aloe vera
Runners - strawberries
Where is eukaryotic asexual reproduction more common?
in cooler climates that are disadvantageous to parasite or regions of low parasite density or diversity
What are homologous chromsomes?
chromosomes that are:
- same size
- same centromere position
- same gene sequence at same loci
What is meiosis?
the division of nucleus to form haploid gametes from a diploid gametocyte (not a cycle)
mechanism where variation is increased
Where does meiosis take place in animals?
ovaries and testes
Where does meiosis take place in plants?
ovaries and anthers
What is the first stage of meiosis I
Pairing of homologous chromosomes
Describe the pairing of homologous chromosomes…
chromosomes (replicated prior) consist of two identical chromatids attached at centromere
chromosomes condense and homologous pairs pair up
chiasmata form at points of contact between non-sister chromatids and DNA sections are exchanged
Describe crossing over…
human chromsomes usually have 2/3 chiasmata
crossing over is random, produces genetically recombinant chromosomes which results in new allele combinations
Describe the second stage of meiosis I…
spindle fibres attach to homologous pairs, line up at equator
orientation is completely random, each pair positioned independently irrespective of maternal/paternal origin (independent assortment)
chromosomes of each homologous pair separated to opposite poles, cytokinesis occurs and sister chromatids are no longer identical due to crossing over
Describe meiosis II…
each cell is now haploid (one copy of each homologous chromosomes, though has two sets of genetic info)
nuclear membrane breaks down, each of the two cells produced in meiosis I undergoes further division where sister chromatids of each chromosome are separated
total of 4 haploid cells are produced