Asexual Reproduction

Asexual reproduction[1] is a type of reproduction by which 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 archaea and bacteria.
Many plants and fungi sometimes reproduce asexually. Some asexual cells die when they are very young.
While all prokaryotes reproduce without the formation and fusion of gametes, mechanisms for lateral gene transfer such
as conjugation, transformation and transduction can be likened to sexual reproduction in the sense of genetic
recombination in meiosis.[2] A complete lack of sexual reproduction is relatively rare among multi-cellular organisms,
particularly animals. It is not entirely understood why the ability to reproduce sexually is so common among them. Current
hypotheses[3] suggest that asexual reproduction may have short term benefits when rapid population growth is important
or in stable environments, while sexual reproduction offers a net advantage by allowing more rapid generation of genetic
diversity, allowing adaptation to changing environments. Developmental constraints[4] may underlie why few animals have
relinquished sexual reproduction completely in their life-cycles. Another constraint on switching from sexual to asexual
reproduction would be the concomitant loss of meiosis and the protective recombinational repair of DNA damage
afforded as one function of meiosis.

Types
Fission
An important form of fission is binary fission, where 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. Many Asexual cells normally die off.
Multiple fission at the cellular level occurs in many protists, e.g. sporozoans and algae. The nucleus of the parent cell
divides several times by mitosis, producing several nuclei. The cytoplasm then separates, creating multiple daughter cells.

Budding
Some cells split via budding (for example baker's yeast), resulting in a "mother" and "daughter" cell. The offspring
organism is smaller than the parent. Budding is also known on a multi-cellular 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
organism.
Internal budding is a process of asexual reproduction, favoured by parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii. It involves an
unusual process in which two (endodyogeny) or more (endopolygeny) daughter cells are produced inside a mother cell,
which is then consumed by the offspring prior to their separation.[12]

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.[13] Examples of vegetative reproduction include the formation of
miniaturized plants called plantlets on specialized leaves (for example in kalanchoe) and some produce new plants out
of rhizomes or stolon (for example in strawberry). Other plants reproduce by forming bulbs or tubers (for
example tulip bulbs and dahlia tubers). Some plants produce adventitious shoots and may form a clonal colony, where all
the individuals are clones, and the clones may cover a large area.[14]

Spore formation
Many multi-cellular organisms form spores during their biological life cycle in a process called sporogenesis. Exceptions
are animals and some protists, who undergo meiosis immediately followed by fertilization. Plants and many algae on the
other hand undergo sporic meiosis where meiosis leads to the formation of haploid spores rather than gametes. These
spores grow into multi-cellular individuals (called gametophytes in the case of plants) without a fertilization event. These
haploid individuals give rise to gametes through mitosis. Meiosis and gamete formation therefore occur in separate
generations or "phases" of the life cycle, referred to as alternation of generations. Since sexual reproduction is often more
narrowly defined as the fusion of gametes (fertilization), spore formation in plant sporophytes and algae might be
considered a form of asexual reproduction (agamogenesis) despite being the result of meiosis and undergoing a reduction
in ploidy. However, both events (spore formation and fertilization) are necessary to complete sexual reproduction in the
plant life cycle.
Fungi and some algae can also utilize true asexual spore formation, which involves mitosis giving rise to reproductive cells
called mitospores that develop into a new organism after dispersal. This method of reproduction is found for example
in conidial fungi and the red algae Polysiphonia, and involves sporogenesis without meiosis. Thus the chromosome
number of the spore cell is the same as that of the parent producing the spores. However, mitotic sporogenesis is an
exception and most spores, such as those of plants, most Basidiomycota, and many algae, are produced by meiosis.

Fragmentation
Fragmentation is a form of asexual reproduction where a new organism grows from a fragment of the parent. Each
fragment develops into a mature, fully grown individual. Fragmentation is seen in many organisms. Animals that reproduce
asexually include planarians, many annelid worms including polychaetes and some oligochaetes, turbellarians and sea
stars. Many fungi and plants reproduce asexually. Some plants have specialized structures for reproduction via
fragmentation, such as gemmae in liverworts. Most lichens, which are a symbiotic union of a fungus
and photosynthetic algae or bacteria, reproduce through fragmentation to ensure that new individuals contain both
symbiont. These fragments can take the form of soredia, dust-like particles consisting of fungal hyphen wrapped around
photobiont cells.
Clonal Fragmentation in multi-cellular or colonial organisms is a form of asexual reproduction or cloning where an
organism is split into fragments. Each of these fragments develop into mature, fully grown individuals that are clones of
the original organism. In echinoderms, this method of reproduction is usually known as fissiparity.[17] Researchers claim
today that due to many environmental and epigenetic differences, that clones originated in the same ancestor might
actually be genetically and epigenetically different.

Sexual Reproduction

Sexual reproduction is a type of life cycle where generations alternate between cells with a single set
of chromosomes (haploid) and cells with a double set of chromosomes (diploid).[1] Sexual reproduction is by far the
most common life cycle in eukaryotes, for example animals and plants.
Diploid cells divide into haploid cells in a process called meiosis. Two haploid cells combine into one diploid cell in a
process called fertilisation. Between fertilisation and meiosis there can be multiple cell divisions without change of the
number of chromosomes.
Fertilisation creates a single-celled zygote which includes genetic material from both gametes. In a process
called genetic recombination, genetic material (DNA) joins up so that homologous chromosome sequences are
aligned with each other, and this is followed by exchange of genetic information. Two rounds of cell division then
produce four daughter cells with half the number of chromosomes from each original parent cell, and the same number
of chromosomes as both parents. For instance, in human reproduction each human cell contains 46 chromosomes in
23 pairs. Meiosis in the parents' gonads produce gamete cells which only contain 23 chromosomes each. When the
gametes are combined via sexual intercourse to form a fertilized egg, the resulting child will have 23 chromosomes
from each parent genetically recombined into 23 chromosome pairs or 46 total.

Types:

Conjugation

Bacterial conjugation is a type of direct transfer of DNA between two bacteria mediated by an external appendage
called the conjugation pilus.[30] Bacterial conjugation is controlled by plasmid genes that are adapted for spreading
copies of the plasmid between bacteria. The infrequent integration of a plasmid into a host bacterial chromosome,
and the subsequent transfer of a part of the host chromosome to another cell do not appear to be bacterial adaptations.

Flowering plants/Pollination

Flowering plants are the dominant plant form on land and they reproduce either sexually or asexually. Often their most
distinguishing feature is their reproductive organs, commonly called flowers. The anther produces pollen grains which
contain the male gametophytes (sperm). For pollination to occur, pollen grains must attach to the stigma of the female
reproductive structure (carpel), where the female gametophytes (ovules) are located inside the ovary. After the pollen
tube grows through the carpel's style, the sex cell nuclei from the pollen grain migrate into the ovule to fertilize the
egg cell and endosperm nuclei within the female gametophyte in a process termed double fertilization. The resulting
zygote develops into an embryo, while the triploid endosperm (one sperm cell plus two female cells) and female
tissues of the ovule give rise to the surrounding tissues in the developing seed. The ovary, which produced the female
gametophyte(s), then grows into a fruit, which surrounds the seed(s). Plants may either self-pollinate or cross-
pollinate.
Ecosystems maintain themselves by cycling energy and nutrients obtained from external sources. At the
first trophic level, primary producers (plants, algae, and some bacteria) use solar energy to produce organic plant
material through photosynthesis. Herbivores—animals that feed solely on plants—make up the second trophic
level. Predators that eat herbivores comprise the third trophic level; if larger predators are present, they represent
still higher trophic levels. Organisms that feed at several trophic levels (for example, grizzly bears that eat berries
and salmon) are classified at the highest of the trophic levels at which they feed. Decomposers, which include
bacteria, fungi, molds, worms, and insects, break down wastes and dead organisms and return nutrients to the
soil.

On average about 10 percent of net energy production at one trophic level is passed on to the next level.
Processes that reduce the energy transferred between trophic levels include respiration, growth and
reproduction, defecation, and nonpredatory death (organisms that die but are not eaten by consumers). The
nutritional quality of material that is consumed also influences how efficiently energy is transferred, because
consumers can convert high-quality food sources into new living tissue more efficiently than low-quality food
sources.

The low rate of energy transfer between trophic levels

makes decomposers generally more important than
producers in terms of energy flow. Decomposers
process large amounts of organic material and return
nutrients to the ecosystem in inorganic form, which are
then taken up again by primary producers. Energy is not
recycled during decomposition, but rather is released,
mostly as heat (this is what makes compost piles and
fresh garden mulch warm). Figure 6 shows the flow of
energy (dark arrows) and nutrients (light arrows)
through ecosystems.

In the oceans, light and nutrients are important

controlling factors for productivity. As noted in Unit 3,
"Oceans," light penetrates only into the uppermost level of the oceans, so photosynthesis occurs in surface and
near-surface waters. Marine primary productivity is high near coastlines and other areas where upwelling brings
nutrients to the surface, promoting plankton blooms. Runoff from land is also a source of nutrients in estuaries
and along the continental shelves. Among aquatic ecosystems, algal beds and coral reefs have the highest net
primary production, while the lowest rates occur in the open due to a lack of nutrients in the illuminated surface
layers (Fig. 8).

How many trophic levels can an ecosystem support? The answer depends on several factors, including the
amount of energy entering the ecosystem, energy loss between trophic levels, and the form, structure, and
physiology of organisms at each level. At higher trophic levels, predators generally are physically larger and are
able to utilize a fraction of the energy that was produced at the level beneath them, so they have to forage over
increasingly large areas to meet their caloric needs.

Because of these energy losses, most terrestrial ecosystems have no more than five trophic levels, and marine
ecosystems generally have no more than seven. This difference between terrestrial and marine ecosystems is
likely due to differences in the fundamental characteristics of land and marine primary organisms. In marine
ecosystems, microscopic phytoplankton carry out most of the photosynthesis that occurs, while plants do most
of this work on land. Phytoplankton are small organisms with extremely simple structures, so most of their primary
production is consumed and used for energy by grazing organisms that feed on them. In contrast, a large fraction
of the biomass that land plants produce, such as roots, trunks, and branches, cannot be used by herbivores for
food, so proportionately less of the energy fixed through primary production travels up the food chain.

Growth rates may also be a factor. Phytoplankton are extremely small but grow very rapidly, so they support
large populations of herbivores even though there may be fewer algae than herbivores at any given moment. In
contrast, land plants may take years to reach maturity, so an average carbon atom spends a longer residence
time at the primary producer level on land than it does in a marine ecosystem. In addition, locomotion costs are
generally higher for terrestrial organisms compared to those in aquatic environments.