Question

Write an argument to defend whether tomato plant or spinach offspring would be more genetically diverse. Remember that the tomato plant reproduced via propagation (a form of asexual reproduction) and the spinach reproduced through sexual reproduction. Be sure to include scientific reasoning to describe the cause and effect relationships between the type of reproduction and the resulting genetic variation of the offspring as compared to each other and the parent(s).

Answer 1

Answer:

spinach plants will be more genetically diverse than tomato plants because sexual reproduction generates more genetic diversity than asexual reproduction

Explanation:

In nature, there are two basic mechanisms of reproduction: sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction. Genetic variation can be generated by the following mechanisms: mutations, random fertilization, recombination (i.e., crossing over), and the independent assortment of homologous chromosomes during meiosis. Sexual reproduction involves two parents, thereby new genetic variation can be generated in the offspring through all these mechanisms: new mutations, genetic recombination (which generates new alleles within an organism's offspring), random fertilization, and the random (independent) assortment of homologous chromosomes during meiosis (these last two mechanisms can potentially generate new genetic combinations in the offspring). Moreover, asexual reproduction involves a single parent, and thereby in this case genetic variation can be only generated by mutations that are passed on to offspring.