Question

Name asexual reproductive structures in the following organism.
i) Hydra
ii) Chlamydomonas
iii) Penicillium

Answer 1

Hint: Vegetative reproduction is referred as a form of asexual reproduction which occur in plants where a new plant grows from a fragment of the parent plant or grow by a specialized reproductive structure. For example, as a stolon, rhizome, tuber, corm, or bulb.

Complete answer:
You are already aware of the fact that, whenever a single parent is involved in reproduction and there is no gamete formation, it is known as asexual reproduction. There are various types of asexual reproduction namely- fission, vegetative reproduction, fragmentation, budding, spore formation and agamogenesis.

Now let’s discuss, the asexual reproductive structures present in the following organisms:
i) Buds are present in the Hydra- A bud grows as an outgrowth because of repeated cell division at one specific site. These buds transform into tiny individuals and, when they fully mature, get detached from the parent body and grow into a new independent individual.

ii) Zoospores present in the Chlamydomonas- these structures are identical to the parent cell in form but are smaller in size. The zoospores simply get enlarged and mature to become Chlamydomonas. Under supporting conditions, the formation of zoospores occurs every 25 hours.

iii) Conidia in the Penicillium- they are asexually formed spores that are present externally to the cells.

Additional information:
Remember, the Asexual reproduction can have advantage and/or disadvantages. One advantage is that it can make individuals rapidly and in huge quantities. Secondly, after having the sexual process can help a plant in dry times, since motile sperm need water to fertilize the egg. Third, that plants with the desired characters can be cloned for economic requirements (agriculture).

But, if something goes wrong, like a fatal mutation, the whole society of clones can be eliminated. That’s why farmers are careful while determining how to propagate their vegetation. Lastly remember that, the asexual process of reproduction is very important one to plants.

Note: Keep in mind, there are various methods of asexual reproduction which include binary fission, fragmentation, and budding. Binary fission happens when a parent cell divides into two identical daughter cells which are the same in size.