question_answer 6)

Distinguish between asexual and sexual reproduction. Why is vegetative reproduction also considered as a type of asexual reproduction.

Answer:

For differences between asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction refer.  

Characters	Asexual reproduction	Sexual reproduction
1. Number of parents involved	Always uniparental reproduction.	Generally biparental reproduction except Taenia, Fasciola.
2. Gametes	Not involved.	Involved.
3. Types of divisions involved	Only mitotic divisions.	Meiosis occurs at the time of gametogenesis. Mitosis occurs after fertilization.
4. Nature of cells involved	Somatic cells of the parent.	Germ cells of the parent.
5. Nature of daughters produced	Genetically similar to the parent.	Genetically different from the parent.
6. Rate of reproduction	Faster.	Slower.
7. Units of reproduction	Whole parent body or bud or body fragment.	Gametes.
8. Occurrence	Found in only lower invertebrates and lower chordates.	Found in higher plants and animals.

Vegetative reproduction is considered as a type of asexual reproduction because here also characters of parent plants are preserved. Here propagation takes place where new individual arises from any vegetative part of the parent (root, stem, leaf etc.), and possesses exactly the same characteristics of the parent plant from which it was sampled. Moreover the formation of new individuals does not involve two parents, process involved is asexual.