Sexual and Asexual Reproduction (U2, c3/4)

Question 1

SEXUAL reproduction: What are the advantages?

Answer 1

• Greater genetic variation (large gene pool)

* Coping with selection pressures + evolving

Question 2

Sexual reproduction: What are the disadvantages?

Answer 2

• Mixing of genetic information: each parent disrupts a successful genome
• Only half of the population can produce offspring

Question 3

ASEXUAL reproduction: What are the advantages?

Answer 3

• Successful genome is not disrupted

* Large number of offspring produced more rapidly

Question 4

ASEXUAL reproduction: What are the disadvantages?

Answer 4

• Lower genetic diversity

* Lower genetic health - deleterious alleles not purged

Question 5

When can ASEXUAL reproduction be a successful strategy?

Answer 5

• Very narrow stable niches

* When recolonising disturbed habitats

Question 6

What are 3 mechanisms of asexual reproduction in eukaryotes?

Answer 6

• Budding
• Vegetative cloning / Propagation
• Parthenogenesis

Question 7

What is FISSION?

Answer 7

• A mechanism of asexual reproduction

* Parent cell splits into 2 cells of equal size

Question 8

What are 3 main mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer?

Answer 8

Conjugation
Transformation
Transduction