HOW DO ORGANISMS REPRODUCE

• Reproduction is the process of formation of young ones from the mature parents.
• Although reproduction is not an essential life process as it is not essential for our
survival but it’s not a wasteful process also as it ensures continuity of life and
replacement of dead individuals.
• Reproduction result in variations which are differences in morphological and
physiological characters of individuals belonging to same family.
• Variations develop due to following reasons:
➢ Errors in DNA Replication – copying of DNA is a complex process involving hundreds of
biochemical reactions. Few of them are likely to go wrong which leads to variations or
mutations.
➢ Chance separation and chance combination of chromosomes.
➢ Fusion of gametes in sexual reproduction.
Because of these reasons we are not the exact copies of our parents.
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
The process of formation of new individuals from a single parent without fusion of gametes.
Basic Features:
• Uniparental – it requires only a single parent.
• Apomixis – It doesnot involve fusion of gametes.
• Mitosis – Cell division is mitotic i.e. chromosome number remains the same as that in
the parent cell. Such cells are called diploid cells.
MODES OF ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
1. FISSION – An organism splits to form two/more new individuals.
Fission is of two types – binary and multiple fission.
Binary Fission – It means splitting into two. It occurs in favourable conditions. It is a primary
method of reproduction in prokaryotic organisms such as amoeba, Paramecium, Leishmania
etc.
An amoeba that is about to undergo division grows larger, and eventually, its nucleus extends
and divides into two. The division of cytoplasm follows the division of the nucleus. So, two
daughter cells are produced from a single parent, and the parent’s identity is technically “lost.”
In Amoeba, binary fission can occur in any plane – transverse or vertical

In Paramecium the plane of division is transverse.

It is vertical in Leishmania.
Multiple Fission – A parent divides and split internally to form a number of daughter cells. It
can occur in unfavourable conditions also. Amoeba can divide by multiple fission in
unfavourable conditions. In Plasmodium (malarial parasite) it is a normal mode of asexual
reproduction.
2. BUDDING - In this process, a new organism is developed from a small outgrowth called
bud. For example – Yeast (unicellular) and Hydra (multicellular)
In yeast, budding usually occurs during the abundant supply of nutrition. In this process
of reproduction, a small bud arises as an outgrowth of the parent body. Later the nucleus
of the parent yeast is separated into two parts and one of the nuclei shifts into the bud.
The newly created bud divides and grows into a new cell.

Budding in hydra involves a small bud which is developed from its parent hydra through the
repeated mitotic division of its cells. The small bud then receives its nutrition from the
parent hydra and grows healthy. Growth starts by developing small tentacles and the
mouth. Finally, the small newly produced hydra gets separate from its parent hydra and
becomes an independent organism.

3. FRAGMENTATION – It is the process of breaking up of the body of an organism into two

or more parts called fragments, each of which grows into a new individual. It is common
in algae, fungi and ribbon like worms.
 ❖ REGENERATION – It is the ability to repair injured parts and replace the ones lost
through accident. It is helpful in multiplication of some animals like Hydra and Planaria,
if they are broken or cut into pieces. Each piece grows the missing parts and forms the
complete organism.
Higher animals have limited power of regeneration e.g. tail in wall lizard and arm in Star Fish.
Regeneration is not considered equivalent to reproduction as an organism will not wait for
an accident to reproduce.
 4. SPORE FORMATION

VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION
It is the formation of new plants from the vegetative parts of the plants like roots, stems and
leaves. It is of two types – natural and artificial.
 Natural Vegetative Propagation

1. Vegetative Propagation by Roots

In this process, new plants grow out of the modified roots called tubers. In fact, in some plant
species, roots develop adventitious buds. These buds grow and form new plants/sprouts
under the right conditions. For example, Sweet potato and Dahlia.

2. Vegetative Propagation by Stems

Vegetative propagation occurs through stems when new plants arise from the nodes. For
example – Potato, Onions and Ginger.

3. Vegetative Propagation by Leaf

Plant like Bryophyllum, have adventitious buds coming out from the margins of the leaves. These
buds develop into new plants.

Artificial Vegetative Propagation

1. Cutting

They are small pieces of stems (20-30 cm long), roots and leaves which are cut off from the
plants and used as vegetative propagules. The cuttings are placed in the moist soil in their natural
position for forming new plants e.g. Rose, sugarcane etc.

2. Layering

A branch of plant is pulled towards the ground and a part of it is covered with moist soil
leaving the tip of branch exposed above the ground. After some time new root develops from
the part of branch buried in the soil. The branch is then cut off from parent plant e.g. Jasmine,
lemon, guava, Strawberry etc.

When branches do not occur near the ground, air layering or gootee is done e.g. Litchi. A ring
of bark is removed for 2-5 cm. The bare area is covered by moist clay mixed with cowdung. It is
then wrapped in polythene. Within 1 to 3 months, roots develop in the area of ring. The
branch is now cut at the base and planted.
 3. Grafting

It is a technique of joining shoot part ( Scion ) of one plant with the root part ( Stock ) of another
related plant so as to form a composite plant that grows as a single plant. Both the parts are
given complementary cut so that the two fit over each other. The joint is covered by mixture of
clay and cowdung and wrapped in polythene e.g. Apple, Sweet Orange, Lemon etc.
It is known as micropropagation because of the small size of plant material used for
propagation.