Question

Which of the following is not one of the many fitness costs of sexual reproduction?

Select one:

a. Courtship and mating rituals associated with courtship are time consuming.

b. Recombination of alleles during meiosis can break up beneficial combinations of alleles.

c. In sexual reproduction, fitness decreases by two fold.

d. Sexually reproducing organisms experience the effects of Muller's ratchet at a disproportionately higher rate than asexually reproducing organisms

e. Coming into close contact with other organisms during copulation facilitates disease transmittance.

Answer 1

Ans D - Sexually reproducing organisms experience the effects of Muller's ratchet at a disproportionately higher rate than asexually reproducing organisms

In evolutionary genetics, Muller's ratchet is a process in which the absence of recombination, especially in an asexual population, results in the accumulation of harmful mutations in an irreversible manner. Muller proposed this mechanism as one reason why sexual reproduction may be favored over asexual reproduction, as sexual organisms benefit from recombination.