Asexual Reproduction
In many simple organisms, reproduction is not a very complicated thing. It generally involves only one organism. The resulting offspring often have the exact same genetic information as the parent. This type of reproduction in which one parent is involved in the production of an identical offspring is called asexual reproduction.
Asexual reproduction can take place in a variety of ways. They may include:
| Binary Fission: A situation in which the parent cell splits in half producing two identical cells. |
| Fragmentation: This type of reproduction would most likely occur in molds, yeast, and mushrooms, all of which are part of the Fungi family of organisms. These organisms produce tiny filaments called Hyphae. These hyphae obtain food and nutrients from the body of other organisms in order to grow and fertilize. When a piece of hyphae breaks off and grows into a new individual, this is called fragmentation. |
| Budding: When conditions are favorable. yeast cells can reproduce through budding. Once a copy of the genetic material is made, a bud begins to form outside the body of the yeast cell. It continues to grow larger until, eventually, it breaks away to form a new individual cell. |
| Sporulation: Molds like to reproduce through this method. A spore is basically a reproductive cell that can grow into a new cell through mitotic cell division. Spore are stored in special spore cases until they are ready to be released. If conditions are favorable, they will grow into new individual cells. Bread mold reproduce in this manner. |
| Regeneration: A form of asexual reproduction that take place in some invertebrates from the animal kingdom. These also produce offspring that are identical to parent. Planaria, a type of flat worm, reproduces itself by dividing in two and regenerating the missing parts. They also have the ability to regenerate injured body parts. |