Florida Biology EOC Practice Test

The formation of gametes in organisms occurs through meiosis, which is a specialized type of cell division. Meiosis is crucial for sexual reproduction as it reduces the chromosome number by half, resulting in haploid cells. In animals, for instance, meiosis produces sperm and eggs, which are the male and female gametes, respectively. This reduction of chromosome number ensures that when fertilization occurs, the resulting zygote has the appropriate diploid number of chromosomes, containing genetic material from both parents.

During meiosis, not only is there a reduction in chromosome number, but there is also genetic recombination through processes such as crossing over. This contributes to genetic diversity among offspring. In contrast, mitosis, another type of cell division, is responsible for growth and repair and does not result in gametes as it maintains the original chromosome number. Fertilization is the process where gametes fuse to form a zygote, and binary fission is a form of asexual reproduction seen in some single-celled organisms, which does not involve gametes at all.