GCSE · Biology · AQA · Spec 8461

Advantages and disadvantages of sexual and asexual reproduction (biology only)

A strawberry plant can make seeds, and it can also send out runners that grow into brand-new plants. Why would one plant bother with two completely different ways of reproducing?

Weigh it up

One strawberry patch, one big decision

The claim

A patch of strawberry plants is thriving in good, steady conditions. Claim: right now, reproducing asexually by runners is the better strategy for these plants.

Place each piece of evidence to load the balance. Mark the strong ones — they count double.

  1. Only one parent is needed. Each plant can send out runners on its own.

    Evidence 1: does it support or challenge the claim?

  2. There's no mate to find, so it's more time and energy efficient.

    Evidence 2: does it support or challenge the claim?

  3. Asexual reproduction is faster than sexual reproduction.

    Evidence 3: does it support or challenge the claim?

  4. Conditions are favourable right now, and that's exactly when asexual reproduction can produce many identical offspring.

    Evidence 4: does it support or challenge the claim?

  5. Every runner plant is a clone of its parent, so the patch has no genetic variation.

    Evidence 5: does it support or challenge the claim?

  6. If the environment changes, variation in the offspring gives a survival advantage by natural selection.

    Evidence 6: does it support or challenge the claim?

Side by side

Sexual reproductionvsAsexual reproduction

Start with the top row. The rest follow from it.

Focus

Genetic information

Sexual reproduction

Mixed, so the offspring vary

Asexual reproduction

Not mixed, so the offspring are genetically identical (clones)

The insight

This is the big one. Variation is sexual reproduction's main advantage, and having no genetic variation is asexual reproduction's main disadvantage.

Parents

Sexual reproduction

Two, whose gametes fuse

Asexual reproduction

Only one, with no fusion of gametes

Finding a mate

Sexual reproduction

Needed

Asexual reproduction

Not needed

Speed

Sexual reproduction

Slower

Asexual reproduction

Faster

Where it pays off

Sexual reproduction

When the environment changes: variation gives a survival advantage by natural selection. Humans also speed up natural selection by selective breeding, to increase food production.

Asexual reproduction

When conditions are favourable: lots of identical offspring, quickly.

Why variation matters

?

Reason it through

Why does variation give a survival advantage when the environment changes?

Link 1 of 4

First link · your turn

Sexual reproduction mixes genetic information from two parents. What does that mean for the offspring?

2
Locked — reveal the link above first
3
Locked — reveal the link above first
4
Locked — reveal the link above first

Organisms that do both

Same organism, two methods

Pick an event, then choose the type of reproduction it is.

Still to sort

Sexual reproduction (0)

Mixes genetic information, so the offspring vary.

Where the line is: If the offspring vary, it's sexual. If they're genetically identical clones of one parent, it's asexual.

Asexual reproduction (0)

One parent, no mixing, genetically identical offspring.

7 of 7 still to sort.

Every organism below uses both methods. Sort each event, and watch the same organism turn up in both columns.

Exam line: If a question names one of these organisms, say which method it uses in which situation.
Watch out: Don't sort the organism. Sort the event. A fungus making spores and a fungus reproducing to give variation go in different columns.

Your turn

Write it, then mark it

A gardener plants a single daffodil bulb in a sunny, well-drained flower bed. Each year the bulb divides, and after a few years the bed is full of daffodils. Explain one advantage and one disadvantage to the daffodils of reproducing by bulb division. [4 marks]

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Exam line: Two moves per point: name the advantage or disadvantage, then link it to the situation you've been given.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Trick question. It depends on the situation, and by the end you'll be able to say exactly what it depends on.

What you need to know

  • Sexual reproduction mixes genetic information, so the offspring vary. Asexual reproduction has one parent and no mixing, so the offspring are clones.
  • Asexual reproduction is faster and more efficient, and can produce many identical offspring when conditions are favourable, but it gives no genetic variation.
  • Sexual reproduction is slower, but its variation gives a survival advantage by natural selection if the environment changes.
  • Some organisms use both methods depending on the circumstances: malarial parasites, many fungi, and plants such as strawberries and daffodils.

The big picture

Neither way of reproducing is simply better: each method's strength is the other's weakness. Asexual reproduction needs only one parent and no mate, is faster, and can produce many identical offspring when conditions are favourable, but its clones have no genetic variation. Sexual reproduction mixes genetic information, so it is slower but produces variation, which gives a survival advantage by natural selection if the environment changes; humans also speed up natural selection by selective breeding to increase food production. That's why malarial parasites, many fungi, and plants such as strawberries and daffodils use both methods, depending on the circumstances.

Key points

1In sexual reproduction, genetic information is mixed, which leads to variety in the offspring.
2Asexual reproduction involves only one parent and no fusion of gametes. There is no mixing of genetic information, so the offspring are genetically identical clones.
3Advantages of asexual reproduction: only one parent is needed; it's more time and energy efficient because there's no mate to find; it's faster; many identical offspring can be produced when conditions are favourable.
4Advantages of sexual reproduction: it produces variation; if the environment changes, variation gives a survival advantage by natural selection; humans can speed up natural selection by selective breeding to increase food production.
5Disadvantages: sexual reproduction is slower than asexual reproduction, and asexual reproduction produces no genetic variation.
6Malarial parasites reproduce asexually in the human host and sexually in the mosquito. Many fungi reproduce asexually by spores and sexually to give variation. Many plants make seeds sexually and also reproduce asexually by runners (strawberry plants) or bulb division (daffodils).

Worked example

Problem

Many fungi reproduce asexually by spores, but also reproduce sexually. Explain why being able to do both could benefit a fungus.

⚠ Watch out

Writing that one method is simply 'better'. Each advantage only pays off in a particular situation, so link it to one: asexual reproduction's speed matters most when conditions are favourable, and sexual reproduction's variation matters most when the environment changes.

🧠

Memory hook

Copies for the good times, variety for the changing times. Asexual makes fast copies while conditions are favourable; sexual shuffles the genes in case the environment changes.

✓

Check yourself

A classmate says: 'Sexual reproduction is better than asexual reproduction, because it produces variation.' What's missing from that argument, and how would you fix it?

Flashcards

(13)
What does mixing genetic information in sexual reproduction lead to?
Variety in the offspring. They are not genetically identical to each other or to either parent.
Describe asexual reproduction in terms of parents, gametes and genetic information.
Only one parent, no fusion of gametes and no mixing of genetic information, so the offspring are genetically identical clones.
What is the main advantage of sexual reproduction?
It produces variation in the offspring.
Why is variation useful if the environment changes?
Some individuals may have variations that help them survive. Variation gives a survival advantage by natural selection.
How do humans make use of sexual reproduction to increase food production?
By selective breeding, which speeds up natural selection.
Over many generations, what can the variation from sexual reproduction lead to?
Evolution.
Why can a lone organism still reproduce asexually?
Asexual reproduction needs only one parent.
Why is asexual reproduction more time and energy efficient?
There's no need to find a mate.
Which is faster: sexual or asexual reproduction?
Asexual. The slower rate is a disadvantage of sexual reproduction.
When can asexual reproduction produce many identical offspring?
When conditions are favourable.
What is the main disadvantage of asexual reproduction?
The offspring are genetically identical, so there is no genetic variation.
Where do malarial parasites reproduce asexually, and where sexually?
Asexually in the human host; sexually in the mosquito.
Name the two asexual methods plants use in this topic, with an example of each.
Runners (strawberry plants) and bulb division (daffodils). Many plants also produce seeds sexually.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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