Asexual reproduction is the reproduction of organisms in which there is no participation of another individual, and reproduction of their own kind occurs by separating several or one cell from the mother's body. In this process, a single parent takes part. The cells resulting from mitosis are fully consistent with the original maternal.
Asexual reproduction is extremely simple. This is due to the fact that the organization of the structure of unicellular organisms is also relatively simple. Organisms with this method of reproduction reproduce their own kind very quickly. In favorable conditions, the number of such cells doubles every hour. Such a process can continue indefinitely until a random change in the genetic code occurs , the so-called mutation.
In nature, such reproduction occurs in plants and unicellular animals.
Asexual reproduction of organisms
Simple division is observed in unicellular plants and animals, for example, in ciliates, amoebas, and some algae. First, the nucleus in the cell is divided by means of mitosis in half, and then a constriction is formed, and the parent individual is divided into two parts, which are daughter organisms.
In animals, asexual reproduction was preserved only in some forms: sponges, intestinal, flatworms, and tunicates. In these organisms, a new individual is obtained as a result of budding or division, after which the part separated from the parent organism is extended to the whole. In some cases, parts of the body have the ability to develop into a separate organism in animals. A whole hydra, for example, can develop from a two hundredth part. With asexual reproduction, newly created individuals come from several cells or one through mitotic divisions, receiving the same hereditary information that the cell of the mother's body possessed.
Asexual reproduction of plants
Widespread this way of reproduction in the plant world. There are a number of plants that multiply well by tubers, layering, cuttings and even leaves, which allows the use of the vegetative organs of the parent plant for growing new organisms. This type of asexual reproduction is called vegetative, and it is inherent in highly organized plants. An example of such a breeding can be considered one that occurs with a mustache, for example, in strawberries.
Spore formation is asexual reproduction occurring in many plants, for example, algae, ferns, mosses, mushrooms at some stage of development. In this case, special cells take part in the multiplication mechanism, often covered with a dense shell, which protects them from the adverse effects of the external environment: overheating, cold, and drying. As soon as favorable conditions arise, the spore membrane bursts, the cell begins to divide many times, giving life to a new organism.
Budding is a method of reproduction, when a small part of the body is separated from the parent individual, from which the daughter organism is later formed.
The totality of individuals that descended from one common ancestor with the help of this type of reproduction is called clones in biology.
Asexual reproduction is widely used in agriculture in order to obtain plants with a set of necessary traits that are useful for human life. Long "mustache", shoots spread strawberries, fruit bushes and trees - cuttings. Scientists are exploring the mechanisms of reproduction in order to learn how to control and manage their development. Cell cultures of the necessary hereditary information are first propagated, and then the necessary whole plant is grown from them.