HOW DO ORGANISMS REPRODUCE

REPRODUCTION: The production of new individuals of the same

kind from the existing organisms is known as reproduction.
• Reproduction is necessary for continuation of same species.
• Reproduction helps in transferring genetic material from first
generation to the
next one and introducing variations in the population for better
chances of
survival.
 Variations: The differences of new individual from the parent give
rise to variations
in a species. Variations help the individuals to tolerate adverse
changes in the
environment for their survival.It leads to evolution also.
The DNA is the information source for making proteins in the
nucleus of a cell.
Any change in the information, different proteins will be made
leading to altered
body designs. Therefore, a basic event in reproduction is the
creation of a DNA
copy where cells use chemical reactions to build copies of their DNA.

There are two modes of reproduction:

a) Asexual reproduction
b) Sexual reproduction

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION AND SEXUAL

REPRODUCTION
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

Involves only one parent Often involves two parents

Gametes are not produced. Gametes are produced.

No fertilization takes place. Male and female gametes fuse to

form zygote. Thus fertilization
takes place.
It involves does not involve It involves meiosis

Asexual reproduction: It is a mode of reproduction in

which a new offspring is produced by a single parent. The
new individuals produced are genetically and physically
identical to each other so basically they are the clones of
their parents.
There are different types of asexual reproduction:

 Fission (Binary and multiple)

 Budding
 Fragmentation
 Vegetative Propagation
 Sporogenesis (spore formation)
 Fission: The word “fission” means “to divide”. If the
parent cell divides into multiple progeny cells. The cell
division patterns vary in different organisms, i.e., some
are directional while others are non-directional.
 Fission can be two types based on the progeny counts-
o Binary Fission: When one parent cell split into two
identical halves and form new individuals. In
leishmania the binary fission occurs in a definite
orientation. In amoeba it is non-definite orientation.
Multiple fission: When one parent cell divides and splits
internally to form a number of daughter cells, it is called multiple
fission.

Budding: Budding is the process of producing an individual

through the buds that develop on the parent body. Hydra is
an organism that reproduces by budding. The bud derives
nutrition and shelter from the parent organism and detaches
once it is fully grown.
In Hydra, a bud develops as an outgrowth due to repeated
cell division at one specific site, which further develops into
tiny individuals and when fully mature, detach from the
parent body and become new independent individuals.

Bud may remain attached to the parent as seen in the yeast.

REGENERATION FRAGMENTATION

Type of asexual reproduction that Type of asexual reproduction that

takes place in multicellular takes place in fully differentiated
organisms with simple body multicellular organisms with
organisation. complex body organisation
An organism breaks into An organism if breaks into pieces by
fragments and each fragment chance, and each piece may or
develops into new individual. may not develop into new
individual.
Fragmentation is not carried out Regeneration is carried out by
by specialised cells. specialised cells (regenerative cells).
Example: Spirogyra Example: Planaria, Hydra etc
Spore formation: Spore formation is evolutionary
developed mode of asexual reproduction. In unfavourable
conditions, the organism develops sac-like structures called
sporangium that contain spores. When the conditions turn
into favourable, the sporangium burst opens and spores are
released that germinate to give rise to new organisms.

Fungus like Rhizopus (bread mould), Bacteria and non-

flowering plants reproduce by this method. These organisms
produce many microscopic reproductive units called spores
in blob (sporangium). The spores are covered by thick
walls that protect them until favourable conditions appear
for growth. Under favourable condition, they germinate to
form new progeny organism.

Vegetative propagation: In plants occurs through their

vegetative parts such as leaves, roots, stems, and buds. This
is called vegetative propagation. For example, potato tubers,
runners/stolon, onion bulbs, etc. This property of vegetative
propagation is used in methods such as layering or grafting
to grow many plants like sugarcane, roses, or grapes for
agricultural purposes (artificial).
Advantages of vegetative propagation-
1. Easy propagation flower production variety like Rose,
Jasmine, Banana and Orange, which have lost the
capacity to produce seeds.
2. All plants produced are genetically similar enough to the parent
plant.
3. Faster reproduction : Vegetative propagation is a faster method
of plant propagation than sexual reproduction.
4. Preserves plant characteristics: Vegetative propagation helps
preserve the characteristics of plants through successive
generations.
Tissue Culture is used to develop new plants from a cell
or tissue in a nutrient medium under aseptic conditions.

Some disadvantages of vegetative propagation

include:
Genetic diversity: Vegetative propagation prevents genetic
diversity in a species, which can lead to crop yield
decreases.
Disease: Vegetative propagated plants are more susceptible
to disease because they are genetically identical and there is
no genetic variation. This means that if a plant clone is
susceptible to a disease, the entire crop can be lost.
Short-lived: Vegetative propagated plants are generally
shorter and smaller than plants propagated from seed.
No new varieties: Vegetative propagation cannot produce
new varieties.

 SEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN FLOWERING PLANTS

 The reproductive parts of angiosperms are located in the
flower.
 Non-Essential parts of Flowers are sepals and petals.
 Sepals (calyx) protect the inner parts of the flower and
petals(corolla) aid in attracting pollinating agents.
 Essential/ reproductive parts present in the flower are-
stamen (androecium) and pistil (gynoecium). Stamen
produce pollen grains bearing male gametes and pistil
produce ovule/ egg cell.

Diagram of flower
 The flower may be unisexual (papaya, watermelon)
when it contains either stamens or pistil or bisexual
(Hibiscus, mustard) when it contains both stamens and
pistil.
 POLLINATION: The process of transfer of pollen
grains from an anther to the stigma of the flower is
called pollination. Pollination can be
 Self-pollination: The transfer of pollen grains from
the anther to the stigma of the same flower or another
flower of the same plant
 Cross-pollination: The transfer of pollen grains from
the anther to the stigma of another flower or another
flower of a different plant of the same species.
Note: Pollination generally takes place with the help of
some agents like insects, birds, wind and water.
 FERTILIZATION:
 Pollination is followed by fertilization.
 Pollen grains land on the stigma of the ovary.
 Pollen tubes having male gametes grow and travel
through the style and reach the ovary. Ovule has
female gametes.
 Pollen tube releases 2 male gametes inside the ovule,
one of which fuses with female germ cell and forms a
zygote which grows into the baby plant i.e. embryo.
Other gamete fuse with 2 polar nuclei to form
endosperm.
 POST FERTILIZATION CHANGES:
 The ovule develops a tough coat and changes into the seed.
 The ovary grows rapidly and ripens to form a fruit.
 Zygote divides several times and forms an embryo inside the
ovule.
Petals, sepals, stamens, style and stigma shrivel and
fall off.
 Fertilization in plants

 The process of development of a new plantlet from the

embryo is called germination.
 REPRODUCTION IN HUMAN BEING: Human beings
become reproductively active from the onset of
puberty. Puberty is associated with changes secondary
sexual characters Human has two gender with
distinguish character to support –

o Male Reproductive System:

 Male reproductive system consists of one pair of
testes, sperm ducts or vas deferens, urethra, a system
of glands- Seminal vesicles and prostate gland.
 The formation of germ-cells or sperms takes place in
the testes located outside the abdominal cavity in
scrotum because sperm formation requires a lower
temperature than the normal body temperature.
 Testes secrete testosterone hormone which brings
about changes in appearance seen in boys at the time
of puberty in addition to the formation of sperms. The
sperms formed are travel through the vas deferens.
 Vas deferens tube opens into a common tube called
urethra.
 It runs through a muscular organ called Penis.
 The urethra thus forms a common passage for both
the sperms and urine glands like the prostate and the
seminal vesicles add their secretions so that the
sperms are now in a fluid which makes their transport
easier and this fluid also provides nutrition.

Male Reproductive System

Female Reproductive System: It consists of ovaries,

fallopian tube/oviduct, uterus, and vagina.
A pair of ovaries is located in the abdominal cavity near
the kidney. Ovaries produce female gamete (ovum or
egg) and secrete female hormones estrogen.
The egg is carried from the ovary to womb/uterus
through a thin oviduct or fallopian tube. The two oviducts
unite into an elastic bag like structure known as the
uterus. Uterus opens into the vagina.
Sexual Cycle in female:
On the onset of puberty, only one egg is produced
alternately from ovary after a period of 28 days. If
fertilization takes place, then the fertilized egg (zygote)
gets implanted in the lining of uterus which later forms
embryo.
Zygote divides repeatedly to from embryo which gets
embedded in the uterine wall, this is called implantation.
Embryo gets nutrition from the mother’s blood with the
help of special tissue called placenta.
The uterus prepares itself every month to receive the
fertilized egg. If the egg is not fertilized, the thick spongy
uterine its lining slowly breaks down and comes out
through the vagina as blood and mucus. This cycle takes
place every month and is called as menstruation and it
usually lasts for about 2-5 days.

Female reproductive system

 SEXUAL TRANSMITTED DISEASES (STD’s): The
diseases can be transmitted from person to person
due to a sexual act are called sexually transmitted
diseases. These can be bacterial infections-
gonorrhoea and syphilis viral infections - warts and
HIV-AIDS. Here the best policy is ‘Prevention is better
than cure’:
 Avoid unprotected sex
 Avoid sexual contacts with multiple partners
 Consult a qualified doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
 Birth Control methods: To control size of the
growing population and prevent unwanted
pregnancies, birth control methods are used.
Prevention of pregnancy in women is called
contraception.
 Birth control methods can be broadly categorised as:
Barrier methods- In this method, physical devices such
as condoms (for males) and diaphragm (for females) are
used. These prevent meeting of sperm and egg by acting
as a mechanical barrier and also protecting sexually
transmitted diseases.
Chemical methods- oral pills contain chemicals which
stop the ovaries from releasing egg. These pills lead to
side effects due to hormonal imbalance.
Intra-uterine contraceptive methods (IUCD)-
Copper-T used to prevent pregnancy, is inserted inside
the uterus preventing the implantation of fertilized egg in
uterus. They can cause side effects due to irritation of
the uterus.
Surgical methods- In this method a surgery operated
of certain parts of the reproductive system is the surgical
method of birth control. It can be performed on both
males and females. They are as follows:
a) Vasectomy: A small portion of the vas deferens is
cleaved, and the ends are tied in the males during
vasectomy. It prevents the flow of sperm from the
testis to the semen.
b) Tubectomy: A small part of the female fallopian tube is
removed, and ends are tied with a nylon thread during
tubectomy. It prevents the transport of the egg
(released from the ovary) into the uterus.