Asexual Reproduction K.Mohanraj, Ravinder Kumar and A.

Anna Durai Asexual reproduction or clonal reproduction covers all those modes of multiplication of plants where normal gamete formation and fertilization does not take place and vegetative propagules are the means of reproduction Clones Clones are identical copies of a genotype produced from a single plant through asexual reproduction. They are phenotypically homogenous but highly heterozygous in nature. All the offsprings are not only identical to each other but as to the parent. The variation present within a clone is purely due to environment only. Types of asexual reproduction Asexual reproduction in crop plants can be done either by vegetative plant parts or by vegetative embryos which develop without fertilization (apomixis). Thus asexual reproduction is of two types: viz. 1) Vegetative reproduction and 2) Apomixis. Vegetative reproduction refers to multiplication of plants by means of various vegetative plant parts. Vegetative reproduction is again of two types: viz. i) natural vegetative reproduction and ii) artificial vegetative reproduction. Natural vegetative reproduction In nature, multiplication of certain plants occurs by underground stems, sub aerial stems, roots and bulbils. In some crop species, underground stems (a modified group of stems) give rise to new plants. Underground stems are of four types: viz. rhizome, tuber, corm and bulb. The examples of plants which reproduce by means of underground stems are given below: Rhizome: Turmeric (Curcuma domestica), Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Tuber: Potato (Solanum tuberosum) Corm: Arvi (Colocasia esculenta), Bunda (C. antiquorum) Bulb: Garlic (Allium sativum), onion (A. cepa) Sub aerial stems include runner, sucker, stolon, etc. These stems lead to vegetative reproduction in mint (Mentha sp), rose, strawberry, banana, etc. Bulbils are modified forms of flower. They develop into plants when fall on the ground. Bulbils are found in

garlic. Artificial vegetative reproduction Multiplication of plants by vegetative parts through artificial method is known as artificial vegetative reproduction. Such reproduction occurs by cuttings of stem and roots, and by layering and grafting. Examples of such reproduction are given below: Stem cuttings: Sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) grapes (Vitis vinifera), roses, etc. Root cuttings: Sweet potato, citrus, lemon, etc. Layering and grafting are used in fruit and ornamental crops. Apomixis Apomixis refers to the production of seed without fertilization i.e. from unfertilized egg. Apomictically produced offspring are genetically identical to the parent plant (generally female). Thus apomixis is an asexual means of reproduction. The asexual propagation of apomictic plants by seed occurs both in obligate and facultative forms. In obligate apomicts, all the seeds produced by asexual means. In facultative apomicts, most of the seed is produced asexually, but sexual reproduction regularly occurs. There are four types of apomixis: viz. 1) parthenogenesis, 2) apogamy, 3) apospory and 4) adventive embryony. 1. Parthenogenesis: Development of an embryo directly from an egg cell without fertilization is called parthenogenesis. It is of two types: Haploid parthenogenesis: Parthenogenesis of a normal haploid egg (a meiotically reduced egg) into an embryo is termed haploid parthenogenesis. If the mother plant was diploid, then the haploid embryo that results is monoploid, and the plant that grows from the embryo is sterile. If they are not sterile, they are sometimes useful to plant breeders (especially in potato breeding, see dihaploidy). This type of apomixis has been recorded in Solanum nigram, Lilium spp., Orchis maculate, Nicotiana tabacum etc. Diploid parthenogenesis: When the embryo sac develops without completing meiosis, so that the embryo sac and all cells within it are meiotically unreduced this is called diploid parthenogenesis, and the plant that develops from the embryo will have the same number of chromosomes as the mother plant.

2. Apogamy. Although this term was (before 1908) used for other types of apomixis, and then discarded as too confusing, it is still sometimes used when an embryo develops from a cell of the megagametophyte other than the egg cell. In flowering plants the megagametophyte is the embryo sac, and the cells involved in apogamy would be synergids or antipodal cells. 3. Apospory. In apospory, first diploid cell of ovule lying outside the embryosac develops into another embryosac without reduction. The embryo then develops directly from the diploid egg cell without fertilization. 4. Adventive embryony. Also called sporophytic apomixis, sporophytic budding, or nucellar embryony: Here there may be an embryo sac (gametophyte) in the ovule, but the embryos do not arise from the cells of the gametophyte; they arise from cells of nucellus or the integument. Adventive embryony is important in several species of Citrus, in Garcinia, Euphorbia dulcis, Mangifera indica etc. Male apomixis in conifers A unique example of male apomixis as the regular reproductive method has recently been discovered in the Saharan Cypress, Cupressus dupreziana, where the seeds are derived entirely from the pollen with no genetic contribution from the female "parent" (Pichot, et al., 2001) Similar mechanisms occur infrequently in other plants and are known as androgenesis or androclinesis.