Epigenetics of Reproduction in Animals - Building the Most Complex Structure on Earth - page 89

Figure 2.16 Asexual reproduction in eukaryotes. Mitosis divides the chromosomes in a cell

nucleus.
Source : From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitosis .

Figure 2.17 Binary fission in Paramecium.
Source : From http://biodidac.bio.uottawa.ca/thumbnails/filedet.htm?File_name=OLIH023P&
File_type=GIF .

Like other unicellular eukaryotes, asexual reproduction in ciliates is a type of
binary fission, where the nucleus is duplicated and each nucleus goes with one of the
parts of the transversally divided body.

Binary Fission in Paramecium
In the case of a unicellular ciliate, such as Paramecium , binary fission consists of
mitosis of the micronucleus, and each of the divided macronucleus halves goes to
one of the resulting twin cells ( Figure 2.17 ).
Distinct from other unicellular eukaryotes, paramecia have two nuclei: one poly-
ploid macronucleus with numerous copies of genes, which is essentially involved in