sexual and asexual reproduction

• true or false. meiosis leads to non-identical cells.

  true, meiosis produces non identical cells, mitosis produced identical cells
• sexual reproduction 


  involves the joining (fusion) of male and female gametes
• sexual reproductions

  • sperm and egg cells in animals
  • pollen and egg cells in flowering plants
• In sexual reproduction there is mixing of genetic information which leads to variety in the offspring. The formation of gametes involves meiosis.
• Asexual reproduction involves only one parent and no fusion of gametes. There is no mixing of genetic information. This leads to genetically identical offspring (clones). Only mitosis is involved.
• advantages of sexual reproduction

  • produces variation in offspring
  • if the environment changes variation gives a survival advantage by natural selection
  • natural selection can be speeded up by humans in selective breeding to increase food production.
• advantages of asexual reproduction

  • only one parent needed
  • more time and energy efficient as you don’t need to find a mate
  • faster than sexual reproduction
  • many identical offspring can be produced when conditions are favourable
• what things use asexual reproduction?

  • bacteria
  • some plants
  • some animals
• what organisms can use both methods of asexual and sexual reproduction?

  • malarial parasites reproduce asexually in a human host but sexually in a mosquito
  • fungi reproduce asexually by spores but sexually to give variation
  • plants produce seeds sexually but asexually by runners such as strawberry plants