5.1 Part 1 - A/Sexual Reproduction

Question 1

Why reproduction

Answer 1

Heredity and reproduction is the most important aspect of all life. Reproduction ensures the continuity of species as offspring counter the death rate, and result in production of more offspring to maintain the species population.

Question 2

Asexual reproduction - animals

Answer 2

Budding: polyps form at the side of parent polyps and “bud” off to form new colonies. E.g. corals, hydra (freshwater)

Fragmentation: new organisms are formed from fragments of an animal that is broken or cut into pieces. E.g. corals, starfish

Agamogensis - without fertilisation by a male gamete. Most common form - Parthenogensis: new organism developing from a unfertilised egg. E.g. gecko

Question 3

Required condition for fertilisation

Answer 3

As life originated in the ocean, fertilisation retains the primitive requirement of a water body to occur.
E.g. acquatic environment, internal water of a parent’s body.

Question 4

Fertilisation - animals

Answer 4

Fusion of male and female gametes
External: gametes are made large in number and produced in water. Gametes and zygotes do not dry out in aquatic environments, therefore highly successful. However, loss of gametes by predators, disease or unsuitable environments -> larger number of gametes.

In terrestrial environments, rarely successful as gametes dessicate.

Internal: Some acquatic species, as they do not produce massive numbers of gametes. Less energy expended and more spent caring on a smaller number of young.
Majority of terrestrial animals - appropriate environment for gametes to fertilse.

Question 5

Compare External and Internal fertilisation

Answer 5

External: syngamy occurs in external medium
Internal: syngamy occurs inside the body of the organism

External: synchrony between sexes - time of release of gametes triggered by shared environmental conditions.
Internal: motile (spontaneous movement) sperm seeks the egg.

External: Large number of gametes into surrounding medium to increase the chance of syngamy/fertilisation
Internal: Reduced number of gamete production as there is a higher chance of fertilisation due to the direct transfer of gametes and protection from external environment (predation, disease, dessication)

External: fish, algae, amphibians, coral
Internal: reptiles, birds, mammals, angiosperms and gymnosperms

Similarities:
* Both forms of sexual reproduction requiring the fusion of male and female gametes
* Both need a body of water to occur

Question 6

Aquatic v Terrestrial

Answer 6

Terrestrial: generally external fertilisation is not successful
* Need for a watery environment is bypassed by using internal body water

Aquatic: generally internal fertilisation is not successful, as the need for water to continually pass over the gills. However some species are evolving, as this is more energy efficient. E.g. horn shark

Question 7

External fertilisation in Australian animals

Answer 7

In the GBR: coral species acheive fertilisation by shedding millions of gametes into the sea. As there is no parental care, only a few live to adulthood.

Amphibians: semiterrestrial, using water for external fertilisation.
* Some amphibians do parental care - Gastric Brooding Frog

Question 8

Internal Fertilisation types

Answer 8

The only option for terrestrial species
Oviparous: interally fertilised egg develops a shell and is laid in the external environment, where it completes its development as nourishment lies within the egg. E.g. reptiles, birds

Viviparous: born alive, as the embryo has developed fully within the parent, obtaining nutrients through the placenta. E.g. mammals

Ovo-viviparous: the egg is retained in the mother’s body, and hatches inside the body.
Similary to viparious fertilisation, the embryo develops inside the body but is not nourished by the female’s placenta but from yolk sac in shelled egg.

Or hatches outside, only with complete development.
E.g. sharks, snakes

Tips and tricks:
Ovi comes from the word ovum, meaning egg. Therefore oviparous involved shelled eggs
Ovo-viviparous combines the words “egg” and “live”, so ovo-viviparous is a hybrid between shelled eggs and the birthing of live young

Question 9

Reptile reproduction

Answer 9

Internal oviparous fertilisation (generally)
Reptiles care for the egg, not offspring.
Hatchlings crawl from the sandback they are born into the water to find food/fend for themselves

Temperature determines the sex of the eggs. Female hormones are functional at higher temperatures. Genetically male eggs will hatch as females and can reproduce as such.

E.g. saltwater crocodile

Question 10

Bird reproduction

Answer 10

Internal oviparous fertilisation
Nest builders, trying to control the temperature of the nest with constant maintenance to optimise development of the egg.

Birds care for their young after hatching.

Question 11

Mammals

Answer 11

Monotremes - internal oviparous: lay eggs. Eggs are cared for in burrows and fed milk from the mother. e.g. platypus, echidna

*Marsupial *- internal viviparous: pouch-bearing animals to care for young. E.g. Kangaroo females can have three infants at different stages (womb, pouch, side). If conditions are not favourable, the development of babies will be halted.

Eutherians (placental mammals) - internal viviparous: young completes its embryonic development inside the mother (uterus) with nutrients derived from placental connection. Mature upon birth, and have a greater chance of survival. E.g. bears, tigers

Question 12

Sexual reproduction in animals procon

Answer 12

Advantages: sexual reproduction of combining two chromosomes increases genetic diversity
* External: large no. of gametes are produced resulting in more offspring. Does not require mating rituals (simpler behavioural process)
* Internal: Increased likelihood of fertilisation as egg and sperm are in close proximity, in high protection from the environment.

Disadvantages: dependent on syncing of fertility cycles, less prolific/rapid than asexual
* External: extra energy expended on large numbers of gametes. Requries watery environment (difficult for amphibians)
* Internal: Fewer offpspring are produced, more difficult contact between females and males. STI risk increases.

Question 13

Sexual reproduction in plants - external and internal

Answer 13

Fertilisation occurs externally and internally

External: requires the presence of water, damp environment. E.g. mosses and ferns.

• Spores need dampness to quickly germinate and start growing. More primitive than seeds.

Internal: gymnosperms (cone-producing plants) and angiosperms (flowering plants)

• Gymnosperms: pollen in male cones, wind blows the pollen to the female scale with ovules at the centre containing egg cells. A fluid-filled pollen tube grows down the centre to the ovule. After this fertilisation seeds are produced and released from the scales of the cone.
• Angiosperms: Petals attract pollinators. Stamen (male part) and carpel (female part).
  After fertilisation, the petals fall off and the ovule becomes a seed, the ovary becomes fruit.

Question 14

Moss and fern reproduction

Answer 14

Asexual

• Haploid spores grow into tiny gametophytes once finding appropriate damp environment.
• Mitosis - haploid gametes

Sexual:

• Male and female haploid gametes fuse at fertilisation forming a zygote
• Zygote grows into a diploid sporophyte that produces haploid spores by meiosis.

Question 15

Gymnosperms sexual reproduction steps

Answer 15

Conifers are male (thin) and female (thicker). Male cones are near the base of the tree, and female cones in the tops. This avoid self pollination.
1. Male cones produce massive amounts of pollen, female cones have ovules in scales.
2. Wind blows pollen from male to female cone
3. Fluid-filled (watery environment) pollen tube grows from the surface to the ovule.
4. Sperm swins to the egg cell
5. Ovules develop into seeds that are released from scales of the cone when mature.

Question 16

Self pollination vs cross pollination

Pros/cons

Answer 16

Self pollination: pollen from the anther of a plant is transferred to a stigma from the same plant
- Pros: don’t need structures to attract pollinators e.g. nectar, brightly coloured flowers → less energy spent; don’t need pollinators → can grow in remote areas where insects and pollinating animals are scarce
- Cons: gametes sourced from the same plant → less genetic diversity, which lowers population resilience

Cross pollination: pollen from the anther of a plant is transferred to the stigma of another plant
- Pros: gametes are from different individuals → more genetic diversity and variation in the offspring, which increases population resilience against environmental changes
- Cons: relies on agents of pollination e.g. wind, animals, insects, water → successful pollination relies on favourable conditions; must attract pollinators → energy expended on maintaining structures like brightly coloured flowers, sweet fruits, and nectar

Question 17

Pollination by wind

Pros/cons + example

Answer 17

A large number of pollen grains are dispersed by wind to reach the stigma of another tree.

• Pros: as pollen is carried by the wind, pollen can be spread over a great distance → wide distribution of offspring; large numbers of pollen grains can be dispersed at the same time
• Not dependent on animal/insect pollinators and do not need to expend energy to create attractive structures.
• Cons: reliant on favourable wind conditions; large energy expenditure on producing copious numbers of gametes to offset gamete loss; no guarantee that pollen will reach the right part of another individual of the same species → high risk of wasting gametes

E.g. Confiers like cyprus, Christmas tree, and juniper

Question 18

Pollination by animals

Pros/cons + example

Answer 18

Pollen is dispersed by the help of animals e.g. birds, bees, butterflies. Pollen sticks to the bodies of the animals. As animals visit different flowers to feed, pollen is deposited on the stigma of female flowers.
- Pros: more reliable than pollination by wind because pollinators visit many different flowers to feed → ensures that pollen will be transferred to the stigma of another plant; with specialised plants that only a few or one pollinator species can access, transfer of pollen to another plant of the same species is guaranteed
- Cons: dependent on there being a healthy population of pollinators → drops in pollinator population can adversely decrease pollination rate; high energy expenditure in maintaining nectar, brightly coloured flowers to attract pollinators

E.g. Specialisation: hammer orchids mimic the shape of a female wasp, deceiving male wasps into visiting the flower to “mate with it”. When this happens, the flower “hammers” the male wasp with its pollen capsule

Hummingbirds, with their elongated beak shape, can access the nectar of honeysuckles better than other species.

Question 19

Seed dispersal

Answer 19

Seeds form after the ova have been fertilised. They are dispersed to allow offspring to grow away from the parent plant in conditions that are potentially more favourable.

Seeds can be dispersed by
- Wind
- Water
- Fruit: seeds are deposited in the faeces of animals

Question 20

Angiosperm fertilisation steps

Answer 20

1. Pollen is transferred to the stigma of a flower. Its dispersal from an anther to a stigma may be aided by a pollinator, e.g. bees, or it may occur through wind or water dispersal.
2. The pollen’s tube cell creates a pollen tube from the stigma towards the ovary. The pollen’s generative cell travels down this tube and divides to form two sperm cells.
3. The two sperm cells enter one of the ovules within the plant’s ovary.
4. Inside the ovule, one sperm cell fertilises the egg. The other sperm cell combines with the polar nuclei to form the endosperm that helps provide nourishment for the zygote.
5. After fertilisation, an ovule matures into a seed. The seed contains the fertilised egg (zygote) and the endosperm.
6. The fertilised egg (zygote) develops into an embryo, which will grow into a new plant by cell division (mitosis) after the seed germinates.

Question 21

Angiosperm double fertilisation

Answer 21

• One sperm fuses with the egg to form diploid zygote
• Other sperm fuses with two polar nuclei to create endosperm, which provides nourishment for the zygote during its development

Question 22

Seed dispersal in edible vs inedible fruits

Answer 22

Fruits help seed dispersal.
- Edible fruits that are eaten by birds and animals have seeds that are indigestible and buried deep within dense fruits. The seeds are excreted in the animal’s droppings some distance away from the mother tree, allowing the species to grow in less competitive conditions.
- In non-edible fruits, fruits are designed to maximise natural agents of dispersion such as wind and water. Wind-dispersed fruits are lightweight and have wing-like appendages that help them be carried long-distance by the wind, or hairy, weightless structures, for example dandelion clocks. Seeds dispersed by water, like willows and silver birches, rely on buoyant, lightweight fruits that can float on water to a new germination ground.

Question 23

Cross pollination

Answer 23

Transfer of pollen from the anther of one plant to the stigma of another plant from the same species

Increases genetic diversity

Mechanisms:
* In some angiosperms, the stamen (male part) and stigma (pollen receptacle on female part) ripen at different times so that the plant cannot pollinate itself
* In gymnosperms, female cones are located at the top of the tree and male cones at the bottom.

Question 24

Anther

Answer 24

The top part of the stamen, produces pollen

Question 25

Stamen

Answer 25

Male reproductive organ of plants, includes anther and filament

Question 26

Carpel

Answer 26

Female reproductive organ of plants, includes stigma, style, and ovary

Question 27

Ovule

Answer 27

Part of the ovary that can be fertilised to become a seed

Question 28

Ovary

Answer 28

Base of the carpel, contains one or more ovules

Question 29

Stigma

Answer 29

The sticky top part of the carpel, supported by the style

Question 30

Gametophyte

Answer 30

Haploid plant structure

Question 31

Sporophyte

Answer 31

Diploid plant sturcture

Question 32

Above ground asexual reproduction

4

Answer 32

Cutting: pieces of stem/leaf is capable of growing leaves. E.g. geranium can grow in jars of water

Runner: new organisms growing from a central plant on the ground. E.g. strawberry, spinifex plants.

Suckers: formation of a new organism by developing a new stem and root system from the parent plant’s root or branch node. E.g. tomato and Australian wattle.

Layering: Branches make contact with soil, triggering root growth. E.g. blackberries

Question 33

Underground asexual reproduction

4

Answer 33

Rhizomes: underground horiztonal stems with nodes that can give rise to new individuals. Underground runners. E.g. ginger

Bulbs: underground food storage organs with the capability to grow into separate plants (fleshy leaves). As the plant grows, new bulbs form and after developing into clumps each is able to grow a separate plant. E.g. onion, ginger

Corms: the same as bulbs, but wthout layers or rings, being a single piece of stem tissue. E.g. taro

Tubers: genetic copies can be propogated from sprouting nodes (“eyes”). Stores nutrients, fueling growth of new organisms. E.g. potatos, sweet potatos

Question 34

Apomixis

Answer 34

Reproduction through specialised generative tissue. Does not require fertilisation or seeds. Embryos are developed from somatic cells directly, bypassing meiosis therefore maintaining chromosome number. E.g. Kentucky blue grass

Question 35

Sexual reproduction in plants procon

Answer 35

Advtanges:

• Genetic diversity –> disease resistance and ability to adapt to changing conditions.

Disadvantages

• Can prevent favourable genes (if recessive) from being passed to offspring
• More difficult process to propogate. Less rapid.