Question

What is meant by the term ‘fission’ as used in biology?

Answer 1

Hint:A type of division that occurs during the process of reproduction in several lower organisms like bacteria.

Complete answer:In biology, fission is stated as the division of a single unit or cell into two or more parts. These parts regenerate to form a complete structure and resemble their parents. It is used mainly about the cell, but sometimes may also be used for organisms, species, etc.
The fission is an asexual reproduction which is of two types:
1. Binary fission – It is a type of fission in which the cell is split into two parts, and each part produces a complete organism identical to its parents.
2. Multiple fission – It is a type of fission in which the cell is split into two or more than two parts, and each part will result in the formation of a complete organism which is identical to its parents.

Additional information:Binary fission is usually found in Bacteria but it is also present in a few eukaryotic organisms. It is of various types depending upon the direction of the fission. It may be irregular (fission takes place at any plane), longitudinal (fission occurs along the longitudinal axis), transverse (fission occurs along a transverse axis), and oblique (fission occurs obliquely). Multiple fission is usually found in protists.

                                                               Fig.- Binary fission

Note: Fragmentation is a method of cloning where the organisms formed will be an exact copy of their parents. In the case of echinoderms, this process of cloning is generally called fissiparity. In some protozoans, the process of fission is called plasmotomy where a multinucleate parent after fission will produce two daughter cells that are also multinucleate.