Budding and its types: In biology, budding is the formation of an outgrowth (bud) from an organism. The bud is capable of developing into a new individual. Another term for this process is gemmation. The process of gemmation fits the budding description. A new individual is formed by a bud growing from the body of the “parent”. Since no gametes are involved in the process, budding is a form of asexual reproduction and the “offspring” is a clone of the parent. Rather than sex cells, somatic cells are involved. They divide mitotically and give rise to new sets of cells with the same genetic composition. Asexual budding is one of the modes of reproduction in many prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

Budding

Budding is an asexual mode of producing new organisms. In this process, a new organism is developed from a small part of the parent’s body. A bud which is formed detaches to develop into a new organism.

Examples of Budding

Budding is a type of asexual reproduction, which is most commonly associated in both multicellular and unicellular organisms. Bacteria, yeast, corals, flatworms, Jellyfish and sea anemones are some animal species which reproduce through budding.

Types of Budding

Exogenous budding

Exogenous budding is a type of asexual reproduction that takes place in certain living organisms. During this process, an outgrowth or bud forms on the outer surface of the parent body. It develops externally by obtaining nutrition from the surrounding environment. It matures and detaches from the parent organism and develops into an individual organism. This is commonly seen in Hydra and yeast.

Budding in hydra

Hydra is exclusively a freshwater organism having different species. It is very small, just a half centimeter long. It is a cnidarian having a tubular body which is composed of a head, distal end and afoot at the end.

Budding in hydra involves a small bud which is developed from its parent hydra through the repeated mitotic division of its cells. The small bud then receives its nutrition from the parent hydra and grows healthy. Growth starts by developing small tentacles and the mouth. Finally, the small newly produced hydra gets separated from its parent hydra and becomes an independent organism.

Budding in yeast

Yeasts are non-green, eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms fitting to the kingdom Fungi. They are usually greater than the bacteria and they characteristically measure 3-4 µm in diameter. Yeast cells reproduce asexually by an asymmetric separation method called budding. In yeast, budding typically occurs during the rich supply of nutrition. In this procedure of reproduction, a small bud rises as an outgrowth of the parent body. Later the nucleus of the parental yeast is divided into two parts and one of the nuclei moves into the bud. The newly made bud splits and grows into a new cell.

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By Team Learning Mantras