Some organisms undergo asexual reproduction through mitosis, while others reproduce sexually, and their cells undergo meiosis to produce gametes. If there were drastic changes in temperature in an ecosystem, which process do you predict would be most beneficial to a species?

Question

anonymous · Answer

asexual reproduction

blues · Answer

I'd go with sexual reproduction - recombination during gamete formation and random mating provide the more genetic variation than is possible in asexual reproduction. And the more different genetic combinations there are, the more likely it is that a small subset of them will be well adapted to the drastically changed environment.

anonymous · Answer

The best strategy is really a combination of the two: asexual reproduction in good times, sexual reproduction in bad. Sometimes, e.g. in many plants and fungi, the resulting zygote is actually a dormant phase. It stays hidden in a protective hull until conditions improve.

I'd also like to point out that gametes aren't always produced via meiosis. If the organism is already haploid (e.g. a moss gametophyte), the gametes can be produced through mitosis.

anonymous · Answer

sexual reproduction will be more advantageous because sexual reproduction results in recombination process which is responsible for variation... but in case of asexual reproduction variations are not observed..