Question

Which form of protozoa reproduction generates more variation?

Answer 1

The sexual reproduction in protozoans can happen by conjugation, with incorporation of genetic material from one cell into another, or by gametes that fecundate others and form zygotes. In the plasmodium sexual reproduction happens in the mosquito, the definitive host, and the zygote undergoes mitosis (sporogony) creating many sporozoites.

Sexual reproduction always generates more genetic variation than asexual reproduction. That is because in sexual reproduction the fusion of genetic material from different individuals occurs and so the offspring is not genetically identical to the parent cell.

If the hypothesis that protozoans originated multicellular animals is strong, other hypotheses may be even stronger: that these protozoans were able to reproduce sexually, since only genetic variation can produce biological differentiation to the point of creating new types of living beings.