Asexual reproduction

Asexual reproduction[1] is a type of reproduction by which offspring arise from a single organism,
and inherit the genes of that parent only; it does not involve the fusion of gametes, and almost never
changes the number of chromosomes. Asexual reproduction is the primary form of reproduction
for single-celled organisms such as archaea and bacteria. Many plants and fungi sometimes
reproduce asexually.
While all prokaryotes reproduce without the formation and fusion of gametes, mechanisms for lateral
gene transfer such as conjugation, transformationand transduction can be likened to sexual
reproduction in the sense of genetic recombination in meiosis.[2] A complete lack of sexual
reproduction is relatively rare among multicellular organisms, particularly animals. It is not entirely
understood why the ability to reproduce sexually is so common among them. Current
hypotheses[3] suggest that asexual reproduction may have short term benefits when rapid population
growth is important or in stable environments, while sexual reproduction offers a net advantage by
allowing more rapid generation of genetic diversity, allowing adaptation to changing environments.
Developmental constraints[4] may underlie why few animals have relinquished sexual reproduction
completely in their life-cycles. Another constraint on switching from sexual to asexual reproduction
would be the concomitant loss of meiosis and the protective recombinational repair of DNA damage
afforded as one function of meiosis
Sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction is a form of reproduction where two gametes fuse together. Each gamete
contains half the number of chromosomes of normal cells. They are created by a specialized type
of cell division, which only occurs in eukaryotic cells, known as meiosis. The two gametes fuse
during fertilization to produce DNA replication and the creation of a single-celled zygote which
includes genetic material from both gametes. In a process called genetic recombination, genetic
material (DNA) joins up so that homologous chromosome sequences are aligned with each other,
and this is followed by exchange of genetic information. Two rounds of cell division then produce
four daughter cells with half the number of chromosomes from each original parent cell, and the
same number of chromosomes as both parents. For instance, in human reproduction each human
cell contains 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs. Meiosis in the parents' gonads produce gamete cells
which only contain 23 chromosomes each. When the gametes are combined via sexual
intercourse to form a fertilized egg, the resulting child will have 23 chromosomes from each parent
genetically recombined into 23 chromosome pairs or 46 total.
Cell division mitosis then initiates the development of a new individual organism in multicellular
organisms,[1] including animals and plants, for the vast majority of whom this is the primary method of
reproduction.[2]
The evolution of sexual reproduction is a major puzzle because asexual reproduction should be able
to outcompete it as every young organism created can bear its own young. This implies that an
asexual population has an intrinsic capacity to grow more rapidly with each generation.[3] This 50%
cost is a fitness disadvantage of sexual reproduction.[4] The two-fold cost of sex includes this cost
and the fact that any organism can only pass on 50% of its own genes to its offspring. One definite
advantage of sexual reproduction is that it prevents the accumulation of genetic mutations.[5]
Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection in which some individuals out-reproduce others of a
population because they are better at securing mates for sexual reproduction.[6][7] It has been
described as "a powerful evolutionary force that does not exist in asexual populations."[8]
Prokaryotes, whose initial cell has additional or transformed genetic material, reproduce through
asexual reproduction but may, in lateral gene transfer, display processes such as bacterial
conjugation, transformation and transduction, which are similar to sexual reproduction although they
do not lead to reproduction.
Oviparity
Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within
the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, reptiles, all birds, and
the monotremes.
In traditional usage, most insects, molluscs, and arachnids are also described as oviparous.
The traditional modes of reproduction include oviparity, taken to be the ancestral condition,
traditionally where either unfertilised oocytes or fertilised eggs are spawned,
and viviparity traditionally including any mechanism where young are born live, or where the
development of the young is supported by either parent in or on any part of their body.[1]
However, the biologist Thierry Lodé recently divided the traditional category of oviparous
reproduction into two modes that he named ovuliparity and (true) oviparity respectively. He
distinguished the two on the basis of the relationship between the zygote (fertilised egg) and the
parents :[1][2]

 Ovuliparity, in which fertilisation is external, is taken to be the ancestral condition as a rule; the
eggs that the female releases into the environment contain unfertilised oocytes, and the male
fertilises them outside her body. In whichever form they are laid, the eggs of most ovuliparous
species contain a substantial quantity of yolk to support the growth and activity of the embryo
after fertilisation, and sometimes for some time after hatching as well.[1] Among
the Vertebrata ovuliparity is common among fishes and most Amphibia. It occurs
among Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Echinodermata, Mollusca, and several other phyla as well.[1]
 (True) oviparity, in which fertilisation is internal. This is taken to be the derived condition,
whether the male inserts the sperm into the female intromittently or whether she actively or
passively picks it up—the female lays eggs containing zygotes with a substantial quantity of yolk
to feed the embryo while it remains in the egg, and in many species to feed it for some time
afterwards. The egg is not retained in the body for most of the period of development of the
embryo within the egg, which is the main distinction between oviparity
and ovoviviparity.[1] Oviparity occurs in all birds, most reptiles, some fishes, and
most Arthropoda. Among mammals, the monotremes (four species of Echidna, and
the Platypus) are oviparous.
In all but special cases of both ovuliparity and oviparity the overwhelming source of nourishment for
the embryo is the yolk material deposited in the egg by the reproductive system of the mother
(the vitellogenesis); offspring that depend on yolk in this manner are said to
be lecithotrophic (opposed to matrotrophic), which literally means "feeding on yolk".
Distinguishing between the definitions of oviparity and ovuliparity necessarily reduces the number of
species whose modes of reproduction are classified as oviparous, as they no longer include the
ovuliparous species such as most fish, most frogs and many invertebrates. Such classifications are
largely for convenience and as such can be important in practice, but speaking loosely in contexts in
which the distinction is not relevant, it is common to lump both categories together as "oviparous".
Viviparity
Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent, eventually
leading to live birth, as opposed to reproduction by laying eggs that complete their incubation outside
the parental body.
Viviparity and the adjective viviparous derive from Latin vivus ("living") and parire ("to bear young")

Reproductive mode[edit]

Hemotrophic viviparity: a mammal embryo (centre) attached by its umbilical cord to a placenta (top) which
provides food

Further information: Modes of reproduction

Five modes of reproduction have been differentiated in animals[2] based on relations

between zygote and parents. The five include two nonviviparous modes: ovuliparity, with external
fertilisation, and oviparity, with internal fertilisation. In the latter, the female lays zygotes as eggs with
a large yolk; this occurs in all birds, most reptiles, and some fishes.[3] These modes are distinguished
from viviparity, which covers all the modes that result in live birth:

 Histotrophic viviparity: the zygotes develop in the female’s oviducts, but find their nutriments
by oophagy or adelphophagy (intra-uterine cannibalism of eggs or sibling embryos in some
sharks or in the black salamander Salamandra atra).
 Hemotrophic viviparity: nutrients are provided by the female, often through some form
of placenta. In the frog Gastrotheca ovifera, embryos are fed by the mother through
specialized gills. The skink Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii and most mammals exhibit a
hemotrophic viviparity.
 Placental viviparity is arguably the most highly developed form of viviparity. Placental
mammals, including humans, are the best-known example, but adaptations in some other
animals also have incorporated this principle or close analogies. Other examples include some
species of scorpions[4]and cockroaches,[5][6] certain genera of sharks and snakes, and velvet
worms.
 Ovoviviparity, a less developed form of viviparity, occurs in most vipers, and in most live-
bearing bony fishes (Poeciliidae). However, the term is poorly and inconsistently defined, and
may be obsolete.[3]
At least some transport of nutrients from mother to embryo appears to be common to all viviparous
species, but those with fully developed placentas such as found in the Theria, some skinks, and
some fish can rely on the placenta for transfer of all necessary nutrients to the offspring and for
removal of all the metabolic wastes as well once it has been fully established during the early
phases of a pregnancy. In such species, there is direct, intimate contact between maternal and
embryonic tissue, though there also is a placental barrier to control or prevent uncontrolled
exchange and the transfer of pathogens.
In at least one species of skink in the large genus Trachylepis, placental transport accounts for
nearly all of the provisioning of nutrients to the embryos before birth. In the uterus, the eggs are very
small, about 1mm in diameter, with very little yolk and very thin shells. The shell membrane is
vestigial and transient; its disintegration permits the absorption of nutrients from uterine secretions.
The embryo then produces invasive chorionic tissues that grow between the cells of the uterine
lining till they can absorb nutrients from maternal blood vessels. As it penetrates the lining, the
embryonic tissue grows aggressively till it forms sheets of tissue beneath the uterine epithelium.
They eventually strip it away and replace it, making direct contact with maternal capillaries. In
several respects, the phenomenon is of considerable importance in theoretical zoology. The authors
remark that such an endotheliochorial placenta is fundamentally different from that of any known
viviparous reptile.[7]
There is no relationship between sex-determining mechanisms and whether a species bears live
young or lays eggs. Temperature-dependent sex determination, which cannot function in an aquatic
environment, is seen only in terrestrial viviparous reptiles. Therefore, marine viviparous species,
including sea snakes and, it now appears, the mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaursof the
Cretaceous, use genotypic sex determination (sex chromosomes), much as birds and mammals
do.[8] Genotypic sex determination is also found in most reptiles, including many viviparous ones
(such as Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii), whilst temperature dependent sex determination is found in
some viviparous species, such as the montane water skink (Eulamprus tympanum).[