Question

Asexual reproduction

Answer 1

I) Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves an individual reproducing without involvement with another individual of that species. e.g. in bacteria a cell divides in to two daughter cells through a process called binary fission. They include; budding, binary fission, vegetative propagation and spore formation among others.

ii) Sexual reproduction : is a type of reproduction that occurs by combining genetic information from two individuals of different types. This mainly occurs in organisms, one sex (male) produces a small percentage of motile which travels with a larger stationary gamete produced by the female (ovum).

iii) Mitosis is a process of cell division that involves a parent cell or original cell diving to give two daughter cells with equal number of chromosomes. The process takes place in the somatic cell (body cells) where a diploid (2n) parent cell yields two diploid daughter cells.

(iv) Meiosis is the type of cell division which involves diving a cell division where a parent cell (diploid 2n)  divides into four daughter cells which are haploid, n. The daughter cells contain half the number of chromosomes as the parents. This process occurs in the gametes cell. The process is important as it ensures that there is genetic variation and hybrid vigor among the off springs.

v) Chromosomes; is a DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material (genome) of an organism. Most eukaryotic chromosomes include packaging proteins which, aided by histone proteins, bind to and condense the DNA molecule to prevent it from becoming and unmanageable tangle.

vi) Cell division; Cell division is a process which involves a cell gives rise to other cells. when cells divide they make new cells. A single cell divides to make two cells and these two cells then divide to make four cells and the process continue. The process is called cell division or cell reproduction since new cells are formed when old cells divide. There two major types of cell division namely mitosis and meiosis.

vii) Clone; cloning is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects, plants or animals reproduce asexually. Thus, a clone is an identical genetic copy of either DNA, a cell, or a whole organism.

viii) Budding; Budding is a type of asexual reproduction in which a new organism develops from an outgrowth or bud due to cell division at one particular site. The new organism remains attached as it grows, separating from the parent organism only when it is mature, leaving behind scar tissue. A good example is budding in yeast.

ix)Acquired trait; this is a characteristic or a trait that produces a phenotype that is a result of an environmental influence. Acquired traits are not coded for in the DNA of an individual and therefore cannot be passed down to offspring during reproduction. They include things such as calluses on fingers, larger muscle size from exercise or from avoiding predators.

x) Recessive trait; Recessive traits are traits which can be carried in a person's genes without appearing in an individual. It is masked by a dominant gene. For example, a dark-haired person may have one gene for dark hair, which is a dominant trait and one gene for light hair, which is recessive.

xi) Dominant trait; When a trait is dominant, only one allele is required for the trait to be observed. A dominant allele will mask a recessive allele, if present. A dominant allele is denoted by a capital letter. example in humans is the dark hair, such that if one parent contributes a gene for dark hair and the other contributes a gene for light hair, the child will have dark hair.

xii) Co-Dominant, Co-dominance is a form of dominance where the alleles of a gene pair in a heterozygote are fully expressed. This results in offspring with a phenotype that is neither dominant nor recessive. A typical example is the ABO blood group system, where a person with blood group AB (heterozygous), both A allele and B allele are equally expressed.