Question

Explain the importance of syngamy and meiosis in the sexual life cycle of an organism.

Answer 1

Hint: Syngamy is the fusion of two cells or gametes to form a zygote. In sexually reproducing organisms, meiosis is a process where cell division in organisms produces half the number of chromosomes.

Complete answer:
Syngamy is also known as a true fusion or generative fusion and is important in the sexual life cycle as it ensures the continuity of species in a sexually reproducing organism.
Meiosis occurs in two stages: meiosis I – it segregates homologous chromosomes producing two haploid cells and meiosis II – it is the second meiotic division, and usually involves educational segregation.
It is responsible for gamete (sperm or egg cells) formation in sexually reproducing organisms. It maintains the chromosome number after fertilization. It increases genetic variability in the population of organisms this brings about variations in characters, leading to evolution. Due to irregularities in cell division mutation occurs which might be beneficial and lead to speciation. It helps in the repair of genetic defects so better growth happens. Independent assortment of maternal and paternal chromosomes occurs resulting in the reshuffling of chromosomes.

Note: Evolution is a modification in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. Speciation is an evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become new and distinct species. It occurs when a category within a species separates from other members of its species and develops its unique characteristics. These species evolve by genetic modification.
The new species are genetically different from one another and can no longer interbreed with the previous species. Speciation is how a new kind of species is created.