User:Kroth2021/Germline

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In biology and genetics, the germline is the population of a multicellular organism's cells that pass on their genetic material to the progeny (offspring). In other words, they are the cells that form the egg, sperm and the fertilised egg. They are usually differentiated to perform this function and segregated in a specific place away from other bodily cells.

As a rule, this passing-on happens via a process of sexual reproduction; typically it is a process that includes systematic changes to the genetic material, changes that arise during recombination, meiosis and fertilization for example. However, there are many exceptions across multicellular organisms, including processes and concepts such as various forms of apomixis, autogamy, automixis, cloning or parthenogenesis. The cells of the germline are called germ cells. For example, gametes such as a sperm and an egg are germ cells. So are the cells that divide to produce gametes, called gametocytes, the cells that produce those, called gametogonia, and all the way back to the zygote, the cell from which an individual develops.

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In biology and genetics, the germline is the population of a multicellular organism's cells that develop into germ cells. In other words, they are the cells that form gametes (eggs and sperm), which can come together to form a zygote. They differentiate in the gonads from primordial germ cells into gametogonia, which develop into gametocytes, which develop into the final gametes. This process is known as gametogenesis.

Germ cells pass on genetic material through the process of sexual reproduction. This includes fertilization, recombination and meiosis. These processes help to increase genetic diversity in offspring.

Certain organisms reproduce asexually via processes such as apomixis, parthenogenesis, autogamy, and cloning. Apomixis and Parthenogenesis both refer to the development of an embryo without fertilization. The former typically occurs in plants, while the latter tends to be seen in animals such as nematodes, bees, and certain birds, amphibians and fish. Autogamy is a term used to describe self pollination in plants. Cloning is an artificial process primarily used in the field of molecular biology.