We can see many plants possessing vegetative and sexual reproduction (amphimixis). Sometimes there are some plants which show particular and special types of reproduction and these reproductions are known as apomixis and polyembryony. Apomixis is defined to be as a type of asexual reproduction and polyembryony is defined to be as a type of sexual reproduction. The apomixis, its meaning and the method of apomixis are described in the article.
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When the formation of seeds occurs without the fusion of gametes (or fertilization) then it is defined as apomixis. Polyembryony is defined as the occurrence of many embryos and these embryos are present in the same seed of a flower. Apomixis and Polyembryony are observed in most of the plants. This type of reproductive process in botany has been given a detailed explanation in this article below with apomixis examples.
Apomixis word is taken from two Greek words, that is, “apo” possesses the meaning away from and “mixed” means the act of mixing.
The term apomixis was first introduced in botany by Winkler botanist in 1908
Apomixis is commonly observed in higher plants mostly in the case of flowering plants and these plants are those plants in which the embryo may be produced from an unfertilised egg cell.
The embryo can also be produced from a cell other than the egg cell within the embryo sac or can be produced from the cell outside the embryo sac.
The plant that is produced by apomixis is genetically identical to the mother plant from which it is developed.
There are more than 35 families present in the environment of plants which reproduce by means of Apomixis.
Examples of Apomictic seeds include Gramineae and Rosaceae.
It also included Compositae and Rutaceae.
The types of Apomixis are listed below-
It is apomixis in which seeds are developed with no fertilisation, and the embryo arises from an unfertilised egg cell.
Examples: Dandelions, certain grasses
In adventive embryony, directly from somatic cells, for example, nucellus or integuments, the embryos develop bypassing the gametic cells.
Examples: Citrus plants
In vegetative apomixis, the new plants are produced from vegetative parts or organs such as bulbs, tubers, or rhizomes.
Examples: Onion, Garlic
In recurrent apomixis seeds are produced of the same ploidy degree as that of the mother plant; in nonrecurrent apomixis, the seeds would be of different ploidy
Examples: Poa species
It is that type of apomixis in which the embryo sac is developed from the diploid cell without any reduction division. The chromosome number remains unreduced.
Examples: Poa species
In apospory the embryo sac develops from somatic cells, for example, nucellus cells, while bypassing the normal sexual process and not involving the megaspore mother cell.
Examples: Poa species
There are different significance of apomixis are as follows:
Ensures offspring produced are genetically identical to the parent plant.
Favourable features passed down to subsequent generations remain.
The desirable characteristics in hybrid plants remain in a non-segregated fashion.
High yielding and vigour in subsequent generations remained.
Reduces the repeated occurrence of hybridisation processes.
Time and resources are saved in breeding programmes.
Consistency in quality and performance of the crops produced.
Reduced variability in plant populations
Fast Clonal Multiplication
Improved multiplication of the clonal plant varieties happens fast.
Faster adaptation to market demand
Adaptability to Diverse Environments
Wide adaptability of well-adjusted clones to other different areas is made possible
Agriculture in variable climatic and soil conditions is facilitated.
The resistance features to pests and pathogens are maintained.
The pathogen-induced crop failure instances decrease.
Apomixis plays the most important role in the formation of infection-free embryos. It is required for the development of polyploidy.
There are mainly three different types of apomixis :
Recurrent Apomixis
Adventive Apomixis
Non-recurrent Apomixis
When the seeds are produced without the fusion of gametes (or fertilization) then it is defined as apomixis. It is a kind of asexual reproduction .Polyembryony is defined as the occurrence of many embryos that are present in the same seed. It is a kind of asexual reproduction.
This can be due to cleavage of proembryo.
When there is development of many different embryos from other cells of embryo-sac but not from egg.
When there is formation of many embryos because of the presence of more than one embryo sac in the same ovule.
When there occurs a formation of many embryos from the structure outside the embryo sac
Apomixis is a process of reproduction in plants with desired attributes whereby genetic variation is absent hence uniformity and stability in crop output.
Apomixis in agriculture creates uniform and stable crops which carry desirable traits necessary for efficiency and reliability in crop production.
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