What is Reproduction?

Reproduction is the process that all organism use to further populate their species and keep themselves from going extinct. It is the main purpose of life, as all organisms live out their life for the purpose of developing more of their species. There are two types of reproduction: asexual and sexual reproduction.

Asexual Reproduction

Asexual Reproduction

Asexual reproduction takes place with only one parent. When asexual reproduction occurs, the organism that is developed is genetically identical to its parent. The benefits of this are that asexual reproduction occurs quickly, and new habitats can be populated very fast because of it. However, since the offspring is genetically identical to its parent, a disease can spread widely throughout the population.

Budding

Budding is the most basic form of asexual reproduction, and it is used by many unicellular organisms. During budding, a section of the parent, or a section of a cell, breaks off and forms a separate organism.

Vegetative Reproduction

Vegetative reproduction or propagation is a form of asexual reproduction used by plants. During vegetative reproduction, part of a plant( like stems or side roots) breaks off from the original plant and develops into a new plant.

Sporogenesis

Another form of asexual reproduction is sporogenesis.  Sporogenesis is the process in which spores are released from organisms like fungi, parasitic worms, or primitive plants. The spores, being made up of tiny balls of cells, grow into a new organism once it settles down.

Parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction in which an embryo develops and grows without fertilization. The offspring is exactly identical to its parent.

Binary Fission

Binary fission is the process in which a parent cell splits into two identical daughter cells of the same size. The genetic material is equally split, so that both the daughter cells are identical. This process is used by prokaryotes(which are archaea and bacteria) and some eukaryotes(plants, animals, fungi, protists).

Sexual Reproduction

Sexual Reproduction

sexual reproduction is the process of reproduction done by two organisms, one male and one female. The two parents mix up their genes to produce offspring that are identical to both the male and the female.

Fertilization

 

During sexual reproduction, each parent produces gametes. Gametes are special types of cells with one set of genes, unlike normal cells which have two sets of genes. Gametes are produced through a process called meiosis. The gametes, which carry the genes of each parent, combine to form the zygote; the first cell of the offspring. This process is called fertilization.

The male gamete cell is called the sperm, and the female gamete cell is called the egg. Both gametes contain half the usual number of chromosomes found in most cells. The sperm delivers genes to the egg. The egg cell is much larger than the sperm, so that it can hold the nutrients needed for the zygote to grow after fertilization.

Meiosis

Meiosis is a special type of cell division used to create gametes. There are two main phases of meiosis, each consisting of different stages.

In each phase there are four stages: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Both phases are almost exactly the same. At the end of meiosis, four haploid cells are produced. This means the cells have half the number of chromosomes as their parent. the four haploid cells develop into either a sperm or egg.