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Gametes are the result of meiosis, which is a specialized type of cell division that ultimately leads to the formation of sex cells: sperm in males and eggs in females. Meiosis reduces the chromosome number by half, so instead of the usual diploid (2n) state that somatic cells have, gametes end up with a haploid (n) state. This is crucial for sexual reproduction because when two gametes unite during fertilization, they restore the diploid state in the resulting zygote.
Mitosis, on the other hand, is the process of cell division that results in two identical daughter cells and is used for growth and repair rather than for producing gametes. Fertilization refers to the process where the male and female gametes combine, and cellular respiration is the metabolic process by which cells convert nutrients into energy, neither of which directly produces gametes. Therefore, the correct association of gametes as the end products specifically points to meiosis.