Types of Reproduction

Asexual Reproduction

 Asexual reproduction does not involve sex cells or fertilisation

 Only one parent is required so there is no fusion of gametes and no mixing of
genetic information
 As a result, the offspring are genetically identical to the parent and to each
other (clones)
 Asexual reproduction is defined as a process resulting in genetically identical
offspring from one parent

Bacteria produce exact genetic copies of themselves in a type of asexual reproduction called
binary fission:

Bacteria produce exact genetic copies of themselves in a type of asexual reproduction

called binary fission
 Plants can reproduce asexually using bulbs and tubers; these are food storage organs from
which budding can occur, producing new plants which are genetically identical to the parent
plant:

Some plants develop underground food storage organs that will develop into next year’s
plants – they can take different forms, such as bulbs or tubers
 Some plants grow side shoots called runners that contain tiny plantlets on them (a good
example of this are strawberry plants. These will grow roots and develop into separate plants,
again being genetically identical to the parent plant:

Some plants grow side shoots called runners that contain tiny plantlets on them. These will
grow roots and develop into separate plants

Advantages & Disadvantages of Asexual Reproduction

  Specifically in crop plants, asexual reproduction can be advantageous as it means
that a plant that has good characteristics (high yield, disease-resistant, hardy) can be
made to reproduce asexually and the entire crop will show the same characteristics

Sexual Reproduction

 Sexual reproduction is a process involving the fusion of the nuclei of two gametes
(sex cells) to form a zygote (fertilised egg cell) and the production of offspring
that are genetically different from each other
 Fertilisation is defined as the fusion of gamete nuclei, and as each gamete comes
from a different parent, there is variation in the offspring

Gametes & Zygotes

 A gamete is a sex cell (in animals: sperm and ovum; in plants pollen nucleus and
ovum)
 Gametes differ from normal cells as they contain half the number of chromosomes
found in other body cells – we say they have a haploid nucleus
 This is because they only contain one copy of each chromosome, rather than the two
copies found in other body cells
 In human beings, a normal body cell contains 46 chromosomes but each gamete
contains 23 chromosomes
 When the male and female gametes fuse, they become a zygote (fertilised egg cell)
 This contains the full 46 chromosomes, half of which came from the father and half
from the mother – we say the zygote has a diploid nucleus

Advantages & Disadvantages of Sexual Reproduction

 Most crop plants reproduce sexually and this is an advantage as it means variation is
increased and a genetic variant may be produced which is better able to cope with
weather changes, or produces significantly higher yield
 The disadvantage is that the variation may lead to offspring that are less successful
than the parent plant at growing well or producing a good harvest
Sexual Reproduction in Plants
Flowers & Pollination

 Flowers are the reproductive organ of the plant

 They usually contain both male and female reproductive parts
 Plants produce pollen which contains a nucleus inside that is the male gamete
 Unlike the male gamete in humans (sperm), pollen is not capable of
locomotion (moving from one place to another)
 This means plants have to have mechanisms in place to transfer pollen from the
anther to the stigma
 This process is known as pollination and there are two main mechanisms by which it
occurs: transferred by insects (or other animals like birds) or transferred by wind
 The structure of insect and wind-pollinated flowers are slightly different as each is
adapted for their specific function

Parts of the flower

General flower structure

Structure of a flower
Adaptations for Pollination

Features of an insect-pollinated flower

Features of a wind-pollinated flower
  The pollen produced by insect and wind-pollinated flowers is also different:
o Insect pollinated flowers produce smaller amounts of larger, heavier pollen
grains that often contain spikes or hooks on the outside so they are better able
to stick to insects
o Wind pollinated flowers produce large amounts of small, lightweight pollen
grains that are usually smooth

Self & Cross-Pollination

 Cross-pollination occurs when the pollen from one plant is transferred to the stigma
of another plant of the same species
 This is the way most plants carry out pollination as it improves genetic variation
 Occasionally, the pollen from a flower can land on its own stigma or on the stigma
of another flower on the same plant – this is known as self-pollination
 Self-pollination reduces genetic variety of the offspring as all the gametes come
from the same parent (and are therefore genetically identical)
 Lack of variation in the offspring is a disadvantage if environmental conditions
change, as it is less likely that any offspring will have adaptations that suit the
new conditions well
 On the other hand, cross-pollination relies completely on the presence
of pollinatorsand this can be a problem if those pollinators are missing (eg the
reduction in beenumbers is of great importance to humans as bees pollinate a large
number of food crops) – this doesn’t apply to wind-pollinated plants

Fertilisation: Basics

 Fertilisation occurs when a pollen nucleus fuses with an ovum nucleus in the ovule

Fertilisation

 As the pollen has no ‘tail’ to swim to the ovary of a plant, in order to reach the
‘female’ nucleus in the ovary it has to grow a pollen tube
 This only happens if the pollen grain has landed on the right kind of stigma (i.e. of the
same species as the flower the pollen came from)
 The nucleus inside the pollen grain slips down the tube as it grows down the style
towards the ovary
 The ovary contains one or more ovules which each contain an ovum with a female
nucleus that a male pollen nucleus can fuse with
 Once the nuclei (pl) have joined together, that ovule has been fertilised and
a zygotehas been formed
 The zygote will start to divide and eventually form a seed within the ovule
 As different plants have different numbers of ovules, this explains why different fruits
(which develop from the ovary) have different numbers of seeds (which develop from
the ovules)
 Growth of a pollen tube

Fertilisation in a flowering plant

Exam Tip

Students often get confused between pollination and fertilisation in plants, but they are not
the same thing.

Think of pollination as the plant’s equivalent to human sexual intercourse – after sex, the
male sex cells (sperm) have been deposited into the female. But, for fertilisation to occur, the
nucleus from a male sperm cell has to fuse with the nucleus of a female sex cell (egg) and the
sperm has to travel to find the egg before this happens. It’s exactly the same in plants!
Germination
Factors Affecting Germination

 Germination is the start of growth in the seed

 Three factors are required for successful germination:
o Water – allows the seed to swell up and the enzymes in the embryo to start
working so that growth can occur
o Oxygen – so that energy can be released for germination
o Warmth – germination improves as temperature rises (up to a maximum) as
the reactions which take place are controlled by enzymes
 As carbon dioxide is not necessary for germination but also does not inhibit it, it
makes no difference whether it is present or not

Investigating Germination

 Set up 4 boiling tubes each containing 10 cress seeds on cotton wool

 Set each test tube as shown in diagram below
 Leave tubes in set environment for a period of time: A, B and C incubated at 20°C; D
placed in a fridge at 4°C
 Compare results and see which tube has the greatest number of germinated seeds

Conditions required for germination

Conditions required for germination – results: