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Cuttings are a very cheap and easy way to produce plants that are genetically identical to the parent plant.

Biology - Reproduction (AQA)

Reproduction makes new individuals. In GCSE Biology, you compare how plants and animals use specialised cells, fertilisation and development to pass on genes to the next generation.

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Fascinating Fact:

Plants reproduce sexually by pollination, fertilised ovules become seeds and ovaries become fruit.

In GCSE Science (Biology), you learn how plants and animals reproduce to ensure survival of their species. You compare gametes, fertilisation, seed and embryo development, and the role of flowers and fruits.

Key Terms

Pollination: Transfer of pollen from anther to stigma so male sex cells can reach female sex cells in a flower.
Fertilisation: Joining of a male gamete with a female gamete to form a zygote that can grow into a new individual.
Seed: A fertilised ovule that contains an embryo plant and a food store, protected by a seed coat.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What is pollination in flowering plants for GCSE Biology?

Pollination in flowering plants is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma, either by wind, insects or other animals, ready for possible fertilisation.

How does fertilisation happen in plant reproduction?

After pollination, a pollen tube grows down through the style so the male nucleus can reach the ovule. The male and female nuclei fuse, forming a zygote inside the ovule.

Why do plants produce fruits and seeds?

Plants produce fruits and seeds so the embryo is protected and supplied with food. Fruits also help with seed dispersal by animals, wind or water, spreading the species.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Tissue culture requires only very small parts of a plant but is more expensive than taking cuttings. Why?

It can only be carried out in a professional laboratory

It requires a lot of specialist equipment

It takes a long time to produce only very small numbers of new plants

It needs sterile agar jelly with plant hormones and lots of nutrients

Cuttings are a very cheap and easy way to produce plants that are genetically identical to the parent plant. The downside is that not all cuttings are successful

2 .

Which of the following options best describes sexual reproduction?

The joining of male and female gametes

The separation of male and female gametes

The formation of male and female gametes

Nothing to do with male and female gametes

When the two gametes, the egg and sperm or pollen and ovule, have fused (joined) we say that the egg or ovule has been fertilised

3 .

Which of the following is not an example of asexual reproduction?

Runners

Plantlets

Pollination

Taking cuttings

Pollination involves gametes and fertilisation and can produce new varieties of plants. Asexual reproduction produces clones - genetically identical to each other and the parent plant

4 .

The genetic information passed from parent to offspring is contained in what?

In genes that are found in the cytoplasm of a cell

In genes carried by chromosomes in the nucleus

In chromosomes carried on the genes of the gametes

In the female gamete only

From your studies of genetics, you should know that chromosomes are made up from genes and that chromosomes are found in the nucleus of cells. If the third option sounded tempting as the right answer, read it carefully - are chromosomes carried on genes or vice versa?

5 .

What do we call the process in which a zygote is created artificially by scientists or doctors?

In tubus fertilisation

In vivo fertilisation

In vitro fertilisation

In vitro mating

IVF is used in human fertility treatments and to create animal clones. The zygote must be implanted into a uterus of the host animal

6 .

Which one of the following statements about plant reproduction is false?

A zygote is formed during the process of fertilisation

All plants reproduce by either sexual or asexual reproduction

Reproduction in a plant results in the formation of a new plant

In sexual reproduction, the offspring of a plant is identical to one of the parents only

This question actually tests your knowledge of sexual reproduction in general. You are expected to know that sexual reproduction involves genes from both parents. It is the same for both plants and animals

7 .

Variation between individuals in an animal population is genetic but may also be caused by what?

The conditions in which they live

How much they get to eat when they are growing

Disease

All of the above

These are examples of environmental variation and will not be passed on to later generations

8 .

In human reproduction, which hormone prepares and maintains the uterus lining to receive the zygote?

Oestrogen

Progesterone

Testosterone

FSH

Oestrogen stops the production of the hormone FSH and promotes the production of luteinising hormone which stimulates the release of a mature egg from the ovary. Testosterone is an important male hormone. FSH causes an egg to mature in the ovaries

9 .

How does sexual reproduction lead to evolution?

It was discovered by Darwin

It mixes the genes from the two parents

It creates a completely new set of genes

The genes change during fertilisation

Every fertilisation results in the creation of a unique set of genes within the new individual which will be similar, but never identical, to the parents. Natural selection will mean that the most successful genetic combinations will survive and reproduce, passing on the useful characteristics

10 .

What do we call the cell formed when fertilisation has occurred?

Double gamete

Epithelial cell

Zygote

Whytecote

An animal zygote grows in the uterus to become a new individual. A plant zygote develops to become a seed

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Inheritance, variation and evolution

Author: Kev Woodward (PGCE, Science & Chemistry Teacher, Quiz Writer)