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The differences between sexual and asexual reproduction
In sexual reproduction two parents create non-identical offspring, inheriting characteristics from both parents.
In asexual reproduction a single parent creates genetically identical offspring.
- produce cells called gametes (sperm- male, egg- female)
- meiosis (cell reproduction which produces gametes) …
- half total number of chromosome in the gamete cells
- for example, in human, the total number of chromosome in adult human is 46 but only 23 in gamete cells
- ferterlisation (in which sperm cell and egg cell fuse together)
- broad variation (many differences in the individuals)
In asexual reproduction a single parent creates genetically identical offspring.
- no gender
- no gametes
- no ferterlisation
- small variation or identical (clone) due to mutation
Plants
Animals:
- Multicellular organisms
- Their cells do not contain chloroplasts and are not able to carry out photosynthesis
- They have no cell walls (humans have bones rather than cell walls to keep us upright)
- They usually have nervous coordination and are able to move from one place to another;
- They often store carbohydrate as glycogen
- Examples include mammals (for example humans) and insects (for example housefly and mosquito)
Fungi:
- Organisms that are not able to carry out photosynthesis
- Their body is usually organised into a mycelium made from thread-like structures called hyphae, which contain many nuclei
- Some examples are single-celled; their cells have walls made of chitin
- They feed by extracellular secretion of digestive enzymes onto food material and absorption of the organic products; this is known as saprotrophic nutrition
- They may store carbohydrate as glycogen
- Examples include Mucor, which has the typical fungal hyphal structure, and yeast, which is single-celled
Bacteria
- These are microscopic single-celled organisms
- They have a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm and plasmids; they lack a nucleus but contain a circular chromosome of DNA
- Some bacteria can carry out photosynthesis but most feed off other living or dead organisms
- Examples include Lactobacillus bulgaricus, a rod-shaped bacterium used in the production of yoghurt from milk, and Pneumococcus, a spherical bacterium that acts as the pathogen causing pneumonia.
Protoctists
- These are microscopic single-celled organisms.
- Some, like Amoeba, that live in pond water, have features like an animal cell, while others, like Chlorella, have chloroplasts and are more like plants.
- A pathogenic example is Plasmodium, responsible for causing malaria.
Viruses
- These are small particles, smaller than bacteria; they are parasitic and can reproduce only inside living cells; they infect every type of living organism. They have a wide variety of shapes and sizes; they have no cellular structure but have a protein coat and contain one type of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA.
- Examples include the tobacco mosaic virus that causes discolouring of the leaves of tobacco plants by preventing the formation of chloroplasts, the influenza virus that causes ‘flu’ and the HIV virus that causes AIDS.