7.2 MODES OF REPRODUCTION USED BY SINGLE ORGANISMS Compare and contrast the ways in which yeast’grows in the first ‘case, and how mould grows in the second. Having discussed the context in which reproductive processes work, let us now examine how different organisms actually reproduce. The modes by which various organisms reproduce depend on the body design of the organisms, 7.2.1 Fission For unicellular organisms, cell division, or fission, Teads to the creation ‘fnew individuals. Many different patterns of fission have been observed. ‘Many bacteria and protozoa simply split into two cqual halves during. cell division. In organisms such as Amoeba. the splitting of the two cells during division can take place in any plane. Figure 7.2(a) Binany fission in Amoebet However, some unicellular organtsms Show somewhat more organisation of their bodies, such as is seen in Leishmania (which fan “eet O cause kale-azar), which have a whip-like structure at one end of the cell. In such —— Pigure 7-1b) Binary fission in Leishmania organisms, binary fission occurs in a definite orlentation in relation to How do Onganisms Reproduce? 15 2024-25Figure 7.2 Multiple fission ta Plasmodiun 116 these structures, Other single-celled organisms, such as the malarial parasite, Plasmodium, divide into many daughter cells simultaneously by multiple fission. ‘Yeast. on the other hand, can put out small buds that separate and grow further, aa we saw in Activity 7.1. 7.2.2 Fragmentation Collect water from @ lake or pond that appears dark green and contains fllamentous structures, Put one oF tivo filaments on a slide. Put admop of ycerine on eee ee Observe the slide under a microscope. Can you identify different tissues in the Spiregyra ‘omonis In multi-cellular organisms with relatively simple body organisation, simple reproductive methods can still werk. Spirogyra. for example, simply breaks up into smaller pieces upon maturation, These pieces or fragments grow into new individuals, Can we work out the reason for this, based on what we saw in Activity 7.4? ‘This fs not true for all multi-cellular organisms, They cannot simply divide cell-by-cell. ‘The reason is that manymulti-cellular organisms, as we have seen, are not simply'a random Collection of cells. Specialised cells are organised as tissties. and tissttes are organised into organs, which then have to be placed at definite positions in the body. In sucha carefully organised situation, cell-by-cell division would he impractical. Multi-cellular organisms, therefore, need to use more complex ways of reproduction, Abasic strategy used in multi-cellular organisms is that different cell types perform different specialised functions, Following this general pattern, reproduction in such organisms isalso the function ofa specific cell type. How ts-reproduction to be achieved from a single cell type, tf the organism itself consists of many cell types? The answer is that there must be a single cell type in the organism that is capable of growing, proliferating and making other cell types under the right circumstances, 7.2.3 Regeneration Many fully differentiated organisms have the ability to give rise to new individual organisms from their body parts. That is, ifthe individual is somehow cut or broken up into many pieces, many of these pieces grow into separate individuals. For example. simple animals like Hydra and Planaria can be cut into any number of pleces and each piece grows into a complete organism. This is known as regeneration (see Fig. 7.3) Regeneration is carried out by specialised cells. ‘These cells proliferate and make large numbers of cells, From this mass of cells, different cells undergo changes to become various ell types and tissues, These changes Science 2004-25take place in at ongantsed sequence eferred to as soi development. However, a ¢ regeneration is not the same as reproduction, since most a organisms would not . normally depend on beingcut =o 8 up to be able to reproduce. 7.9.4 Budding y Organisms such as Hydra » use regenerative cells for reproduction in the process of budding. In Hydra, a bud Fgure 7.3 feqeneration i Planaria —_—_developsas an outgrowth due to repeated cell division at one specific site (Fig. 7.4). These buds develop into tiny individuals and when fully mature, detach from the parent body and become new independent individuals. Figure 7.4 Budding i Hydra 7.2.5 Vegetative Propagation ‘There are many plants in which parts like the root, stem and leaves develop into new plants under appropriate conditions. Unlike in most animals, plants can indeed use such a mode for reproduction, ‘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 alse 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 characteristi How do Onganisms Reproduce? 2004-25 1