Reproduction - Sexual Reproduction

Sexual Reproduction

Sexual reproduction is a biological process by which organisms create descendants that have a combination of genetic material contributed from two (usually) different members of the species. (Self-fertilization requires only one organism.) Each of two parent organisms contributes half of the offspring's genetic makeup by creating haploid gametes. Most organisms form two different types of gametes. In these anisogamous species, the two sexes are referred to as male (producing sperm or microspores) and female (producing ova or megaspores). In isogamous species, the gametes are similar or identical in form (isogametes), but may have separable properties and then may be given other different names (see isogamy). For example, in the green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, there are so-called "plus" and "minus" gametes. A few types of organisms, such as ciliates, Paramecium aurelia, have more than two types of "sex", called syngens.

Most animals (including humans) and plants reproduce sexually. Sexually reproducing organisms have different sets of genes for every trait (called alleles). Offspring inherit one allele for each trait from each parent, thereby ensuring that offspring have a combination of the parents' genes. Diploid having two copies of every gene within an organism, it is believed that "the masking of deleterious alleles favors the evolution of a dominant diploid phase in organisms that alternate between haploid and diploid phases" where recombination occurs freely.

Bryophyte reproduces sexually but its commonly seen life forms are all haploid, which produce gametes. The zygotes of the gametes develop into sporangium, which produces haploid spores. The diploid stage is relatively short compared with that of haploid stage, i.e. haploid dominance. The advantage of diploid, e.g. heterosis, only takes place in diploid life stage. Bryophyte still maintains the sexual reproduction during its evolution despite the fact that the haploid stage does not benefit from heterosis at all. This may be an example that the sexual reproduction has a bigger advantage by itself, since it allows gene shuffling (hybrid or recombination between multiple loci) among different members of the species, that permits natural selection of the fit over these new hybrids or recombinants that are haploid forms.