Asexual reproduction Flashcards
What is asexual reproduction?
Offspring arise from a single organism, and inherit the genes of that parent only; it does not involve the fusion of gametes, and almost never changes the number of chromosomes. Asexual reproduction is the primary form of reproduction for single-celled organisms such as the Archaea and bacteria. Many plants and fungi reproduce asexually as well.
What are the primary different types of asexual reproduction?
Fission, budding, vegetative propagation, sporogenesis, fragmentation
What is fission?
In binary fission, the parent organism is replaced by two daughter organisms, because it literally divides in two. Only prokaryotes (the archaea and the bacteria) reproduce asexually through binary fission. Eukaryotes (such as protists and unicellular fungi) may reproduce in a functionally similar manner by mitosis; most of these are also capable of sexual reproduction.
What is budding?
Some cells split via budding resulting in a “mother” and “daughter” cell. The offspring organism is smaller than the parent. Budding is also known on a multicellular level; an animal example is the hydra, which reproduces by budding. The buds grow into fully matured individuals which eventually break away from the parent organisms.
What is vegetative propagation?
Vegetative propagation is a type of asexual reproduction found in plants where new individuals are formed without the production of seeds or spores by meiosis or syngamy.
