Reproduction of organisms is a reproductive reproduction of similar individuals with the participation of the germ cells of both partners, therefore, by default it is considered sexual. This is a characteristic distinguishing feature of all life on Earth. Everything is clear with this. Now let's find out what reproduction is called asexual, and in what ways it occurs.
What breeding is called asexual
Before formulating this concept, we note that the form of asexual reproduction is common in both multicellular and unicellular organisms. Who is not in the subject, we explain that the former include plants and fungi, and the latter - the simplest living organisms (for example, amoeba). The name of this method of reproduction speaks for itself - without the participation of germ cells. This is how amoeba, ciliates, shoes and other protozoa breed. Note that this reduces the variability of the body to nothing. The only loophole in the natural selection of unicellular organisms is only random mutations.
So, reproduction in plants and animals, occurring asexually - this is the reproduction of their own kind, not related to the exchange between genetic information of two individuals.
Asexual reproduction methods
After we figured out what breeding is called asexual, it will not be out of place to mention his methods, of which there are many. The first is division. From one individual, for example, amoeba, two others are formed - daughter. The nucleus begins to divide, while the cytoplasm begins to decay into two parts.
The second way is spore propagation or spore formation. It requires spores of multicellular organisms, such as plants or fungi. Important! Bacterial spores are not involved in reproduction, since one bacterium is able to form only one spore.
The next way is budding. So multiplies, for example, the intestinal protozoa - hydra. Subsidiary individuals are formed from the “mother” body. By the way, budding and division are a special method of asexual reproduction - vegetative. We will describe this in more detail below.
Fragmented methods of asexual reproduction are, for example, starfish. It happens like this: the organism of the “mother” begins to divide into parts. Each of them becomes a subsidiary organism.
Vegetative propagation in animals and plants
A special way of asexual reproduction of plants and lower animals is vegetative. Reproduction occurs through vegetative organs such as roots, leaves, or altered shoots. For example, raspberries propagate by roots (see figure), violet - by leaves, and so on. By the way, this method of reproduction is most popular among wild plants.
From the point of view of biology, this process of reproduction is explained by the desire of the plant to restore its lost parts. Vegetative propagation can take place both naturally and artificially, for example, with the help of humans. Many plants that can reproduce sexually have this reproduction method. In animals, the vegetative method is division or budding.
So, a fairly large number of reproductive methods using our own examples show us what reproduction is called asexual.
