Question

Is reproduction synonymous to the growth in unicellular organisms?

Answer 1

The reproduction is the process in which a new individual is obtained from the parent. In the case of unicellular organisms only one parent is involved in the process of reproduction. Hence it is known as asexual reproduction. The offspring are the exact copy of the parent.

Complete answer:
Growth is one of the important characteristics of the living organism. The growth of the organism basically is due to the process of mitosis in which the cell increases its size. Mitosis is the method of cell division by which the organisms grow and repair their worn-out cells. Reproduction is the process by which the living beings form new organisms which have the capacity to grow. Growth does not mean reproduction unless there is an increase in the number of individuals. The
In unicellular organisms like amoeba, yeast or blue-green algae, the reproduction takes place by the process of binary fission. In this process the parent cell splits into two daughter cells. In the unicellular organism the growth is similar to that of reproduction. Here the increase in the size and number due to cell division gives rise to new offspring.
So, we can say that reproduction is synonymous with growth in unicellular organisms.

Note –
The unicellular organisms undergo reproduction by the process of binary fission, sporulation, budding, regeneration, fragmentation etc. In the case of multicellular organisms, sexual reproduction takes place which involves the fusion of the genetic content of the male and the female. The offspring generated shows variation of characters.