sexual asexual reproduction

• Sexual reproduction


  A type of reproduction in which the genetic materials from two different cells combine, producing an offspring
• Sex cells


  • Female - egg
  • Male - sperm
• Fertilization


  An egg cell and a sperm cell join together to form a new cell called a zygote
• Advantages of sexual reproduction

  • Diverse offspring: genetic variation among offspring
  • Half of the DNA comes from mom, half from dad
  • Genetic variation allows organisms to develop traits to resist diseases and harsh environments
• Advantages of sexual reproduction

  • Selective breeding: used to develop many types of plants and animals with desirable traits
  • Agriculture/Farming: better plants, larger animals
  • Desirable pets
• Disadvantages of sexual reproduction

  • Time and energy: organisms have to grow and develop until old enough to produce sex cells
  • Searching for a mate can expose individuals to predators, diseases, or harsh conditions
  • Fertilization cannot take place during pregnancy
• Asexual reproduction


  One parent organism produces offspring without fertilization
• Advantages of asexual reproduction

  • Enables organisms to reproduce without a mate
  • No wasted time and energy
  • Enables rapid reproduction of a large number of uniform offspring
• Disadvantages of asexual reproduction

  • No genetic variation, so offspring are identical to parent
  • If parent is susceptible to a disease or weed killer, offspring will be too
  • Dangerous mutations in DNA can be passed on to all offspring
• Asexual reproduction


  • Fission: cell division in prokaryotes forming two genetically identical cells
  • Budding: a new organism grows by mitosis and cell division on the parent body
  • Regeneration: offspring grows from a piece of the parent
  • Vegetative propagation: uniform offspring grow from a part of a parent plant
• Regeneration


  occurs when an offspring grows from a piece of its parent