BIOL-3350 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Meiosis, Coevolution, Fecundity
Document Summary
Bacteria dont have male and females, the produce offspring simply by cell division - asexually since they have neither meiosis nor fusion of haploid gametes through fertilization. Hermaphrodites - an individual may develop both male and female organs/gametes. Reproduction - the formation of new individual organisms (offspring). It is made possible by genes that are subject to natural selection. Twofold cost of sex - asexual genotypes should increase in frequency replacing the sexual ones in the population. That is, natural selection should favor the evolution of asexual reproduction. Refers to the disadvantages of being sexual rather than an asexual organism. In sexual reproduction, beneficial mutations can be combined with other beneficial mutations, and they can be separated from harmful ones. Mullers ratchet - when asexual organisms acquire deleterious mutations that offset earlier, beneficial mutations, the two types of mutations can"t be separated/irreversible. The burden imposed by the accumulation of deleterious mutations.