Class XII BIOLOGY

Reproduction in Organisms BIOLOGY

Chapter – 01: Reproduction in Organisms

Key features of Drill Exercises:

• This document focuses on extensive and exhaustive practice of

Questions as per latest CBSE Board Curriculum.

• Each drill exercise contains four sections, namely:

(A) Practice Questions: Questions covering all the categories, viz.,

Very Short Answer (V.S.A.) Type, Short Answer (S.A.) Type, and
Long Answer (L.A.) Type, along with their difficulty level.

(B) Previous Year Questions: Questions asked in the previous years

of CBSE Board Examinations.

(C) Must Do Questions: Questions from topics/ sub-topics which are

regularly asked in the Board Examinations.

(D) HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills): Questions to assess the

students’ understanding, analytical ability and interpretation.

NOTE: Detailed answers to all the questions are also provided for the
student’s self assessment.

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Reproduction in Organisms BIOLOGY

DRILL EXERCISES

A. Practice Questions

The questions in this section indicate weightage and their difficulty level.

Answers will be provided at the end of each section given below:

1 Mark: Very Short Answer Type Difficulty level: Easy and Average

Q1. Name the phase in animals which corresponds vegetative phase in plants.

Q2. What is the type of reproduction in which genetically similar individuals are
produced?
Q3. Identify the plant part and the plant which is shown in the diagram.

Q4. What is common between earthworm and leech with regard to reproductive
organs?

Q5. Why zygote is called as the vital link between organisms of one generation to the
next?

Q6. What name is given to the individuals who are produced from one individual and
are genetically similar?

Q7. What is the special asexual reproductive structure formed in Chlamydomonas?

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Q8. Fusion of gametes called fertilisation which results in the formation of -

Q9. Write the ploidy of the following:-

Egg, male gamete, Zygote, embryo

Q10. What are the three phases in the life cycle of an organism?

Q11. How does binary fission occur in single cell organisms?

Q12. Which are the two main pre-fertilisation events?

Q13. Which of the following is a dioecious plant?

Cucumber, maize, mango and papaya

Q14. How does Penicillium (a fungus) reproduce asexually?

Q15. Which plant flowers once in 12 years?

Q16. What are vegetative propagules?

Q17. Define life span.

Q18. What are the characteristics of animals showing internal fertilisation?

Q19. Fill in the blank in column A with appropriate organism and in column B with
appropriate asexual reproductive structure:

COLUMN A COLUMN B
Penicillium ----
----- Gemmules
Hydra ------
------ Bulbils

Q20. The chromosome number in the meiocytes of the following organisms is given
below write the chromosome number in their gametes.
Fruit fly – 8, Rice – 24, Onion – 32, Rat – 42 and Human beings – 46

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Answers:

A1. Juvenile phase

A2. Asexual

A3. Leaf, Bryophyllum.

A4. Both are hermaphrodite, i.e. male and female sex organs located in one
individual.

A5. Zygote is the vital link that ensures continuity of species.

A6. Clone

A7. Zoospores.

A8. Zygote.

A9. Egg and male gamete are haploid (n). Zygote and embryo are diploid (2n).

A10. (a) Juvenile phase (b) Reproductive phase (c) Senescent phase.

A11. An organism produces two individuals identical to the parent cell through mitotic
division e.g. Amoeba, Paramecium, etc. reproduce by binary fission.

A12. Gametogenesis and Gamete transfer are the two main pre-fertilisation events.

A13. Papaya

A14. By means of conidia.

A15. Stroblanthus kunthiana (neelakuranji)

A16. The vegetative parts which are capable of producing new plants are known as
vegetative propagules. They are rhizome, runner, bulb, sucker, tuber, offset and
leaf.

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A17. The period between birth and the natural death of an organism called its life
span.
A18. Female Gametes are produced in less number and there is a special method of
male gamete transfer.

A19. Penicillium –conidia, Sponge –gemmules, Hydra-buds and Agave -bulbils

A20. Fruit fly – 4, Rice – 12, Onion – 16, Rat – 21 and Human beings – 23.

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1 Mark: Very Short Answer Type Difficulty level: Difficult

Q1. Do haploid organisms undergo meiosis at any stage in their life cycle?
If yes, state where does it occur?
Q2. Why do plants like bryophytes and pteridophytes produce a large number of male
gametes?

Q3. Why vegetative reproduction is considered as a type of asexual reproduction?

Q4. Why do asexually reproducing organisms shift to sexual method of reproduction

just before the onset of unfavorable condition?

Q5. Why do organisms reproducing through binary fission are immortal?

Q6. Why is the offspring formed by asexual reproduction referred to as clone?

Q7. Why sexual mode of reproduction is better than asexual reproduction?

Q8. Why the two gametes which are shown in the diagram are isogametes?

Q9. What is the medium for the fertilisation of gametes in Bryophytes, Pteridophytes
and algae?

Q10. What kind of reproduction is carried out in protista and in Monera?

Q11. Chance of survival of offspring is more than a clone. Explain.

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Answers:

A1. In the zygote – ‘zygotic meiosis’.

A2. Male gametes fail to reach female gamete easily.

A3. No gamete formation, no meiosis and no fertilisation.

Offsprings are morphologically and genetically similar to parents.

A4. They develop some mechanism to withstand adverse condition e.g. Cyst.

A5. Entire parent body behaves as the reproductive unit. The parent body divides
into two daughter individuals. Thus, parent is not died and continues to live as
two daughter cells.

A6. Offsprings are morphologically and genetically similar to their parents and they
are produced as a result of mitosis.

A7. Offspring shows variation that is essential for evolution and survival of species.

A8. These gametes are morphologically and physiologically similar.

A9. Water.

A10. The mode of reproduction in protists is asexual and in monerans is binary fission.

A11. The genetic diversity that comes as a result of sexual reproduction increases the
possibility of the offspring survival.

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2 Marks: Short Answer Type I Difficulty level: Easy and Average

Q1. Sexual reproduction involves fertilisation or syngamy. What are the events
involved in the successful reproduction process?

Q2. Give the chromosomes number in gametes of the following, if the number of
chromosomes in their meiocyte is as follows:
Onion – 32, dog – 78, house fly – 12, rice – 24.

Q3. What do the following parts of flowers develop into, after fertilisation?
(a) Ovary (b) zygote (c) Integuments of ovary (d) Ovules

Q4. What role does leaf of Bryophyllum play in asexual reproduction?

Q5. What do you mean by homothallic? Give an example.

Q6. What are the different types of gametes formed during sexual reproduction? Give
examples.

Q7. Differentiate between seasonal breeders and continuous breeders.

Q8. What is parthenogenesis? Explain with example.

Q9. Differentiate between oviparous and viviparous

Q10. Why water hyacinth (Pistia) is popularly known as ‘terror of Bengal’?

Q11. In a given diagram of a fruit, label S and P

A Fruit

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Answers:

A1. Steps involved in the successful sexual reproduction are: individuals – meiocytes
– reductional division (meiosis) – formation of gametes – fertilisation – zygote –
embryo.

A2. Onion – 16, dog – 39, house fly – 06, rice – 12.

A3. (a) Ovary becomes fruit (b) zygote becomes embryo (c) Integuments of ovary
becomes fruit wall (d) Ovules become seeds .

A4. In Bryophyllum, adventitious (foliar) buds arise from the notches present at
margins of leaves. These buds germinate to give rise to a new plant.

A5. In several fungi and plants, the term homothallic is used for bisexual condition.

A6. Three types of gametes are formed in different organisms. These are
i. Isogametes or homogametes, e.g., an alga (Cladophora).
ii. Anisogametes,e.g., Spirogyra.
iii. Heterogametes, e.g., higher mammals including humans.

A7. The main difference between these two is given below:

Seasonal breeders. Continuous breeders.

Mammals which exhibit oestrous Mammals which are
/menstrual cycle only during their reproductively active throughout
favorable seasons in their reproductive their reproductive phase.
phase.

A8. Sometimes the female gametes may develop into a new organism without
fertilisation. In Rotifers, honeybees-unfertilized eggs develop into adults.

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A9. Oviparous and Viviparous

Oviparous Viviparous
The animals which lay The animals which give birth to
fertilized /unfertilized eggs. young ones. The development of
Examples- Birds, reptiles. fertilized egg occurs inside the
mother’s body. Example – Mammals.

A10. Water hyacinth (Pistia) is quickly spread on the entire surface of the water bodies
and it drains of oxygen from water and leads deadening of fishes in the standing
water.

A11. S – Seed, P – Pericarp.

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2 Marks: Short Answer Type I Difficulty level: Difficult

Q1. Both the prefixes (Uni- and Mono-) are numerically is the same meaning i.e. one
in number. Does it mean that uni-sexual and mono-ecious species are the same?

Q2. What do you mean by gametic meiosis and zygotic meiosis?

Q3. A plant was introduced in India as its ornamental value (beautiful flowers and
shape of leaves). It propagates vegetatively very fast and it became a threat to
stagnant water bodies. Which plant is being referred to and writes the name of
the stem through which it propagates?

Q4. The transfer of pollen grains in bisexual flowers is easier than in unisexual
flowers? Justify this statement.

Q5. Zygote is a single celled structure; it is changed into a multicellular embryo after
post fertilisation. What are the changes the zygote undergoes during the
development of an embryo?

Q6. What will happen if meiosis does not take place during gametogenesis?

Q7. Both vegetative and asexual reproduction is considered as the same, yet they
are different in one specific point. Explain.

Q8. How vegetative propagation proved to be boon to the agriculturists?

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Answers:

A1. The Unisexual is used in reference to the flower (presence of either anther or
carpel) monoecious is used in reference to the plant (morphologically one plant
bearing both the sexes in their flowers).

A2. The organisms which are haploid produce gametes through mitosis and they
undergo zygotic meiosis after syngamy. In organisms, which are diploid produce
gametes through meiosis hence, they undergo zygotic meiosis.

A3. Pistia, offset.

A4. Both male and female reproductive organs stamens and pistils respectively are
located in the in the same flower and are close to each other in bisexual flower
but in unisexual flower they are present in two different flowers.

A5. The following changes occur in the zygote to form embryo – Cell division, Cell
enlargement and differentiation.

A6. Gametes will be diploid and they are not viable gametes and they will not
undergo syngamy.

A7. In vegetative propagation, there is direct involvement of somatic cells but in

asexual reproduction there is no involvement of somatic cells completely.

A8. Vegetative propagation is especially beneficial to the agriculturists and

horticulturists. The plants in which viable seeds are not produced can be raised
easily through vegetative propagation e.g. crops like bananas, sugarcane,
potato, etc. The seedless varieties of fruits are also grown by vegetative
propagation.

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3 Marks: Short Answer Type II Difficulty level: Easy and Average

Q1. Why sexual reproduction is a better mode of reproduction, give reasons?

Q2. What is budding? How internal budding is different from normal budding

Q3. Fill the blank spaces marked as A, B, C and D in the given table

Organisms /Plants Reproductive structures

A Bulbils

Chlamydomonas B

C Gemmules

Bryophyllum D

Q4. Study the following diagram and answer the questions given below:

Seed
Pericarp

Some fruits showing Seeds and Pericarp

I. What is the term given to the point of attachment of the ovules in the fruit?
II. What is the ploidy of embryo and the tissues in the ovary?
III. What is the function of fruit apart from storage of materials?
Q5. How can the eyes of a potato produce new potato plants? Explain with the help
of a diagram.

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Answers:

A1. Sexual reproduction allows the formation of new variants by the combination of
the DNA from two different individuals. It involves the fusion of the male and the
female gametes to produce offsprings, which are not identical to the either
parents. This variation allows the individual to adapt to constantly changing and
challenging environment. This leads to the evolution of better suited organisms
that ensures greater chance of survival of the species. On the contrary, asexual
reproduction allows very little or no variation. As a result, the individuals
produced are exact copies of their parents and are clones.

A2. Budding is a process of asexual reproduction. A small outgrowth (bud) develops

on the surface of the organisms and it remains attached initially to the parent
which eventually gets separated and mature into an organism e.g. yeast, Hydra
etc. In internal budding, internal buds develop asexually which remains dormant
through the winter and later develops into a new individual e.g., gemmules in
sponges.

A3. A-Agave, B-Zoospores, C- Sponge (Sycon) and D-Leafy buds

A4. I. Placenta.
II. Embryo is diploid (2n) and tissues in the ovary is also diploid.
III. Main function of fruit is to develop seed and its dispersal.

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A5. Potato is a modified underground stem. The eyes on a potato tuber are actually
buds. When one of these buds is removed along with a section of the potato and
put into the ground, a new potato plant forms. The starch in the potato serves as
food for the developing plant until leaves form and the process of photosynthesis
begins, enabling the young plant to produce its own food.

Eyes

Germinating ‘Eye’
‘Buds

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3 Marks: Short Answer Type II Difficulty level: Difficult

Q1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of vegetative propagation?

Q2. Why it is essential that the chromosome number of an organism be the same
from one generation to the next generation?

Q3. How runner and rhizome carried out vegetative propagation explain with
diagram?

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Answers:

A1. Advantages:
 Only one parent is required hence, the need of pollination can be
eliminated.
 Helps to tide over unfavorable conditions through structures like tubers,
corm, bulbs, etc in plants.
 Since the clones are genetically identical, therefore advantageous traits can
be preserved.
 It is simple and faster process. For example, the generation time of bacteria
is 20 minutes. This helps the organisms to increase in number at a rapid
rate.
Disadvantages:

 Clones gradually lose their vigor in the absence of genetic variation.

 Clones are more prone to diseases that are specific to the species.
 Since many plants are produced, it results in overcrowding and lack of
nutrients.
A2. Chromosomes contain the hereditary information of a cell. If a daughter cell was
produced with missing chromosomes or additional chromosome, this error could
result in the death of the cell because the functions controlled by that
chromosome would not be available. For example, suppose the chromosome
with the information needed to produce digestive enzymes was missing; the cell
would not have the enzymes needed to digest food and would die.

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A3. A runner is an aboveground stem that grows horizontally along the surface when
the stem touches the ground. Buds from the stem form a new plant e.g. Oxalis,
Strawberry etc.

New Plant

Runner

A rhizome is an underground stem that grows horizontally along the surface;

shoots from buds at nodes of the stem develop into a new plant. Examples are
ginger, ferns etc.

Nodes

Buds

Adventitious root

Rhizome
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5 Marks: Long Answer Type:

Q1. “Fertilisation leads to the formation of embryo”. On the basis of this statement
answer the following questions:

i. Give the technical term for the development of embryo.

ii. What are the events that occur during embryo development?
iii. The development of zygote depends on two factors. What are they?
iv. How will you categorise animals based on the development of zygote inside
or outside the female body?
Q2. Describe the role of cell division during gamete formation in different organisms
also explain the process of gametic transfer in higher plants.

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Answers:

A1. i. Embryogenesis.
ii. The two important events are cell division and cell differentiation.
Cell divisions increase the number of cells in the developing embryo while
cell differentiation helps groups of cells to undergo certain modifications to
form specialised tissues and organs to form an organism.
iii. The development of the zygote depends on : The type of life cycle of the
organism and the environmental exposure of an organism.
iv. In the organisms exhibit external fertilisation, zygote is formed in the
external medium (usually water), whereas in those exhibiting internal
fertilisation, zygote is formed inside the body of the organism.
A2. During the process of asexual reproduction and vegetative propagation there is a
process of mitotic cell division.

During sexual reproduction specialized cells known as gamete mother cells or

meiocytes which are diploid in nature undergoes meiosis to form the haploid (n)
gametes.
The lower organisms like few algae and fungi possess the haploid body,
automatically produce the haploid gametes after mitosis.

Gametes fuse to form the diploid zygote, zygote undergoes meiosis to form
haploid body.

Gametic transfer in plants: In plants, male gametes are developed within the
pollen grains which need to be transferred to the stigma for double fertilisation
through pollination. The process of pollination is carried out by various agents
like insects, wind, and water. The female gamete (egg) present inside the
embryo sac where fertilisation occurs.

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B. Previous Year Questions

1 Mark: Very Short Answer Type

Q1. Mention the characteristic feature and a function of zoospores in some algae.

[CBSE 2009]
Q2. Mention the site where syngamy occurs in amphibians and reptiles respectively.
[CBSE 2010]

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Answers:

A1. Zoospores are flagellated (motile), microscopic asexual reproductive structures in

some algae like Chlamydomonas.

A2. In Water- outside the body in amphibians like frog and inside the female body in
reptiles like lizards.

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2 Marks: Short Answer Type I

Q1. Offsprings derived by asexual reproduction are called clones. Justify by giving
two reasons. [CBSE 2010]

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Answers:

A1. Individuals which are morphologically and genetically similar are clones. These
are produced by single individual (parent) e.g., Budding in yeast and Binary
fission in Amoeba.

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C. Must Do Questions

These questions are frequently asked in the Board Examination from the topics/ sub-
topics, of this chapter.

Q1. What is the type of reproduction in which genetically similar individuals are
produced?

Q2. What are advantages and disadvantages of vegetative propagation?

Q3. Why sexual reproduction is a better mode of reproduction, give reasons?

Q4. What are the different types of gametes formed during sexual reproduction? Give
examples.

Q5. Zygote is a single celled structure; it is changed into multicellular embryo after
post fertilisation. What are the changes which the zygote undergoes during the
development of an embryo?

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D. HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) questions.

Q1. In oogamous organisms, female gamete is large and non-motile but the male
gamete is very small. Why such type of adjustment is there in higher organisms?

Q2. Why is internal fertilisation considered to be more advanced method than

external fertilisation?

Q3. What is the difference between the type of gametes and their transfer from male
to female organisms of higher animals and higher plants?

Q4. What happens to the parent cell when asexual reproduction is complete?

Q5. How can a cell having 12 chromosomes produce two daughter cells, each with
12 chromosomes?

Q6. How can spores survive unfavorable conditions?

Q7. How many chromosomes are in a gamete in an organism that has 46

chromosomes in its cells?

Q8. Life span of May fly is 01 day while that of tortoise is 100-150 yrs. What message
do you get from this data?

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Answers:

A1. Female gamete is large and non motile, is an adaptation for storing more food
which will be required for the future development. The male gamete has to move
to reach the counterpart, so it has the machinery for its reaching and delivering
the chromosomes. It is therefore both the gametes have specialized themselves
for their functions.
A2. Internal fertilisation ensures more chances of fertilisation with less wastage of
gametes.

A3. In higher animals, male gametes are motile and transferred to the female genital
tract by insemination but in higher plants male gametes are non-motile and they
are carried to the embryo sac for fertilisation through pollen tube.

A4. When the parent cell reproduces asexually, it does not exist anymore. Two
daughter cells form from the parent, and they are morphologically and genetically
identical to each other.

A5. During asexual reproduction, each chromosome replicates. If the parent cell has
12 chromosomes, after replication it has 24. When the cytoplasm divides, these
24 chromosomes are distributed equally so that each daughter cell has 12
chromosomes.

A6. Spores have a protective outer wall that lets them survive unfavorable conditions.
However, as soon as food and water are available, the spore can form a new
organism.

A7. Gametes (n) have half the number of chromosomes found in cells (2n). Hence,
2n = 46 then n = 23.

A8. Life span is irrespective of the size of the organisms. It depends on metabolic
rate. Small animals have more metabolic rate, hence short life span.

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