How do Organisms Reproduce?

Why Reproduce?
Reproduction is not essential for an individual organism's survival, unlike nutrition, respiration,
or excretion.
Reproduction requires significant energy expenditure.
Reproduction is crucial for the continuation of species. Large numbers of organisms
belonging to a single species bring them to our notice.
Reproducing organisms create new individuals that look similar to themselves.

Exact Copies?
Organisms look similar because their body designs are similar. Similar body designs require
similar blueprints.
Reproduction involves making copies of the blueprints of body design.
Chromosomes in the nucleus contain information for inheritance in the form of DNA
(DeoxyriboNucleic Acid) molecules.
DNA is the information source for making proteins. Changes in DNA lead to different proteins
and altered body designs.
A basic event in reproduction is the creation of a DNA copy. Cells use chemical reactions to
build copies of their DNA.
DNA copying is accompanied by the creation of an additional cellular apparatus, and then the
DNA copies separate, each with its own cellular apparatus. Effectively, a cell divides to give
rise to two cells.
The copying of DNA will have some variations each time. As a result, the DNA copies
generated will be similar, but may not be identical to the original.

Importance of Variation
Populations of organisms fill niches in the ecosystem, using their ability to reproduce.
Consistency of DNA copying during reproduction is important for maintaining body design
features.
Reproduction is linked to the stability of populations of species.
Niches can change due to factors beyond the organism's control (temperature, water levels,
meteorite hits).
Variations allow some individuals to survive drastic changes in the niche.
Variation is thus useful for the survival of species over time.

Modes of Reproduction Used by Single Organisms

The modes by which various organisms reproduce depend on the body design of the
organisms.

Fission
 For unicellular organisms, cell division, or fission, leads to the creation of new individuals.
Many bacteria and protozoa simply split into two equal halves during cell division.
In organisms such as Amoeba, the splitting of the two cells during division can take place in
any plane.
In Leishmania, binary fission occurs in a definite orientation in relation to their whip-like
structures.
Plasmodium divide into many daughter cells simultaneously by multiple fission.
Yeast can put out small buds that separate and grow further.

Fragmentation
In multi-cellular organisms with relatively simple body organisation, simple reproductive
methods can still work.
Spirogyra breaks up into smaller pieces upon maturation, and these fragments grow into new
individuals.
Specialised cells are organised as tissues, and tissues are organised into organs, which then
have to be placed at definite positions in the body.

Regeneration
Many fully differentiated organisms have the ability to give rise to new individual organisms
from their body parts.
If the individual is somehow cut or broken up into many pieces, many of these pieces grow
into separate individuals.
Simple animals like Hydra and Planaria can be cut into any number of pieces and each piece
grows into a complete organism.
Regeneration is carried out by specialised cells that proliferate and make large numbers of
cells.
From this mass of cells, different cells undergo changes to become various cell types and
tissues. These changes take place in an organised sequence referred to as development.
Regeneration is not the same as reproduction, since most organisms would not normally
depend on being cut up to be able to reproduce.

Budding
Organisms such as Hydra use regenerative cells for reproduction in the process of budding.
In Hydra, a bud develops as an outgrowth due to repeated cell division at one specific site.
These buds develop into tiny individuals and when fully mature, detach from the parent body
and become new independent individuals.

Vegetative Propagation
In many plants, parts like the root, stem and leaves develop into new plants under appropriate
conditions.
This property of vegetative propagation is used in methods such as layering or grafting to
grow many plants like sugarcane, roses, or grapes for agricultural purposes.
Plants raised by vegetative propagation can bear flowers and fruits earlier than those
 produced from seeds.
Such methods also make possible the propagation of plants such as banana, orange, rose
and jasmine that have lost the capacity to produce seeds.
Another advantage of vegetative propagation is that all plants produced are genetically
similar enough to the parent plant to have all its characteristics.
Buds produced in the notches along the leaf margin of Bryophyllum fall on the soil and
develop into new plants.

Spore Formation
Even in many simple multi-cellular organisms, specific reproductive parts can be identified.
The thread-like structures of the bread mould (Rhizopus) are the hyphae.
The tiny blob-on-a-stick structures are involved in reproduction.
The blobs are sporangia, which contain cells, or spores, that can eventually develop into new
Rhizopus individuals.
The spores are covered by thick walls that protect them until they come into contact with
another moist surface and can begin to grow.
All the modes of reproduction that we have discussed so far allow new generations to be
created from a single individual. This is known as asexual reproduction.

Sexual Reproduction
Sexual reproduction depends on the involvement of two individuals before a new generation
can be created.
In such cases, both sexes, males and females, are needed to produce new generations.

Why the Sexual Mode of Reproduction?

The creation of two new cells from one involves copying of the DNA as well as of the cellular
apparatus.
The DNA copying mechanism cannot be absolutely accurate, and the resultant errors are a
source of variations in populations of organisms.
Variations are useful for ensuring the survival of the species.
Combining variations from two or more individuals would thus create new combinations of
variants.
The sexual mode of reproduction incorporates such a process of combining DNA from two
different individuals during reproduction.
If each new generation is to be the combination of the DNA copies from two pre-existing
individuals, then each new generation will end up having twice the amount of DNA that the
previous generation had.
One solution that many multi-cellular organisms have found for the problem mentioned above
is to have special lineages of cells in specialised organs in which only half the number of
chromosomes and half the amount of DNA as compared to the non-reproductive body cells.
This is achieved by a process of cell division called meiosis.
Thus, when these germ-cells from two individuals combine during sexual reproduction to
form a new individual, it results in re-establishment of the number of chromosomes and the
DNA content in the new generation.
One germ-cell is large and contains the food-stores while the other is smaller and likely to be
motile.
 Conventionally, the motile germ-cell is called the male gamete and the germ-cell containing
the stored food is called the female gamete.

Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants

The reproductive parts of angiosperms are located in the flower.
Stamens and pistil are the reproductive parts of a flower which contain the germ-cells.
The flower may be unisexual (papaya, watermelon) when it contains either stamens or pistil
or bisexual (Hibiscus, mustard) when it contains both stamens and pistil.
Stamen is the male reproductive part and it produces pollen grains.
Pistil is present in the centre of a flower and is the female reproductive part.
The pistil is made of three parts: the ovary, style and stigma.
The ovary contains ovules and each ovule has an egg cell.
The male germ-cell produced by pollen grain fuses with the female gamete present in the
ovule. This fusion of the germ-cells or fertilisation gives us the zygote which is capable of
growing into a new plant.
The pollen needs to be transferred from the stamen to the stigma.
If this transfer of pollen occurs in the same flower, it is referred to as self-pollination.
On the other hand, if the pollen is transferred from one flower to another, it is known as cross-
pollination.
This transfer of pollen from one flower to another is achieved by agents like wind, water or
animals.
After the pollen lands on a suitable stigma, it has to reach the female germ-cells which are in
the ovary.
For this, a tube grows out of the pollen grain and travels through the style to reach the ovary.
After fertilisation, the zygote divides several times to form an embryo within the ovule.
The ovule develops a tough coat and is gradually converted into a seed.
The ovary grows rapidly and ripens to form a fruit.
The seed contains the future plant or embryo which develops into a seedling under
appropriate conditions. This process is known as germination.

Reproduction in Human Beings

Humans use a sexual mode of reproduction.
In early teenage years, a whole new set of changes occurs that cannot be explained simply as
body enlargement. Instead, the appearance of the body changes.
Some of these changes are common to both boys and girls.
In girls, breast size begins to increase, with darkening of the skin of the nipples at the tips of
the breasts. Also, girls begin to menstruate at around this time.
Boys begin to have new thick hair growth on the face and their voices begin to crack. Further,
the penis occasionally begins to become enlarged and erect, either in daydreams or at night.
All of these changes take place slowly, over a period of months and years.
As the rate of general body growth begins to slow down, reproductive tissues begin to
mature. This period during adolescence is called puberty.
Many changes during puberty, such as new hair-growth patterns, are signals that sexual
maturation is taking place.

Male Reproductive System

The male reproductive system consists of portions which produce the germ-cells and other
 portions that deliver the germ-cells to the site of fertilisation.
The formation of germ-cells or sperms takes place in the testes.
These are located outside the abdominal cavity in scrotum because sperm formation requires
a lower temperature than the normal body temperature.
The testes secrete the hormone, testosterone. In addition to regulating the formation of
sperms, testosterone brings about changes in appearance seen in boys at the time of
puberty.
The sperms formed are delivered through the vas deferens which unites with a tube coming
from the urinary bladder.
The urethra thus forms a common passage for both the sperms and urine.
Along the path of the vas deferens, glands like the prostate and the seminal vesicles add their
secretions so that the sperms are now in a fluid which makes their transport easier and this
fluid also provides nutrition.
The sperms are tiny bodies that consist of mainly genetic material and a long tail that helps
them to move towards the female germ-cell.

Female Reproductive System

The female germ-cells or eggs are made in the ovaries.
They are also responsible for the production of some hormones.
When a girl is born, the ovaries already contain thousands of immature eggs.
On reaching puberty, some of these start maturing.
One egg is produced every month by one of the ovaries.
The egg is carried from the ovary to the womb through a thin oviduct or fallopian tube.
The two oviducts unite into an elastic bag-like structure known as the uterus.
The uterus opens into the vagina through the cervix.
The sperms enter through the vaginal passage during sexual intercourse.
They travel upwards and reach the oviduct where they may encounter the egg.
The fertilised egg (zygote) starts dividing and form a ball of cells or embryo.
The embryo is implanted in the lining of the uterus where they continue to grow and develop
organs to become foetus.
The uterus prepares itself every month to receive and nurture the growing embryo. The lining
thickens and is richly supplied with blood to nourish the growing embryo.
The embryo gets nutrition from the mother’s blood with the help of a special tissue called
placenta.
This is a disc which is embedded in the uterine wall. It contains villi on the embryo’s side of
the tissue. On the mother’s side are blood spaces, which surround the villi. This provides a
large surface area for glucose and oxygen to pass from the mother to the embryo.
The developing embryo will also generate waste substances which can be removed by
transferring them into the mother’s blood through the placenta.
The development of the child inside the mother’s body takes approximately nine months. The
child is born as a result of rhythmic contractions of the muscles in the uterus.

What happens when the Egg is not Fertilised?

If the egg is not fertilised, it lives for about one day.
Since the ovary releases one egg every month, the uterus also prepares itself every month to
receive a fertilised egg. Thus its lining becomes thick and spongy.
Now, however, this lining is not needed any longer. So, the lining slowly breaks and comes out
through the vagina as blood and mucous. This cycle takes place roughly every month and is
known as menstruation. It usually lasts for about two to eight days.
Reproductive Health
The process of sexual maturation is gradual, and takes place while general body growth is
still going on.
Therefore, some degree of sexual maturation does not necessarily mean that the body or the
mind is ready for sexual acts or for having and bringing up children.
Diseases can be transmitted from person to person in a variety of ways. Since the sexual act
is a very intimate connection of bodies, it is not surprising that many diseases can be
sexually transmitted.
These include bacterial infections such as gonorrhoea and syphilis, and viral infections such
as warts and HIV-AIDS.
Using a covering, called a condom, for the penis during sex helps to prevent transmission of
many of these infections to some extent.
The sexual act always has the potential to lead to pregnancy.
Pregnancy will make major demands on the body and the mind of the woman, and if she is
not ready for it, her health will be adversely affected.
Many ways have been devised to avoid pregnancy. These contraceptive methods fall in a
number of categories.
One category is the creation of a mechanical barrier so that sperm does not reach the
egg. Condoms on the penis or similar coverings worn in the vagina can serve this
purpose.
Another category of contraceptives acts by changing the hormonal balance of the body so
that eggs are not released and fertilisation cannot occur. These drugs commonly need to
be taken orally as pills. However, since they change hormonal balances, they can cause
side-effects too.
Other contraceptive devices such as the loop or the copper-T are placed in the uterus to
prevent pregnancy. Again, they can cause side effects due to irritation of the uterus.
If the vas deferens in the male is blocked, sperm transfer will be prevented. If the fallopian
tube in the female is blocked, the egg will not be able to reach the uterus. In both cases
fertilisation will not take place.
Surgical methods can be used to create such blocks. While surgical methods are safe in
the long run, surgery itself can cause infections and other problems if not performed
properly.
Surgery can also be used for removal of unwanted pregnancies. These may be misused by
people who do not want a particular child, as happens in illegal sex-selective abortion of
female foetuses.
For a healthy society, the female-male sex ratio must be maintained. Because of reckless
female foeticides, child sex ratio is declining at an alarming rate in some sections of our
society, although prenatal sex determination has been prohibited by law.
We have noted earlier that reproduction is the process by which organisms increase their
populations.
The rates of birth and death in a given population will determine its size.