Asexual Reproduction in Plants

Study Notes

Scientists are closer to turning sexually reproducing plants into asexual reproducers.
This finding may have profound implications for agriculture.
Farmers worldwide spend an estimated $36 billion annually on crop seeds.
Farmers look for traits like hardiness and pest-resistance in seeds.
Sexual reproduction can erase carefully selected traits.
Farmers must buy new supplies of specially-produced seeds every year.
Some plants, like dandelions and poplar trees, reproduce asexually by cloning themselves.
Dr. Jean-Philippe Vielle-Calzada, an HHMI international research scholar, studied the genetics of asexual reproduction.
Vielle-Calzada wanted to apply the genetics of asexual reproduction to plants that produce sexually.
Vielle-Calzada and colleagues report progress in turning sexually reproducing plants into asexual reproducers.
Agricultural companies and farmers are very interested in this method.
This method can simplify seed production and reduce costs while maintaining desirable traits.
Sexual reproduction in plants involves male and female gametes which carry half of the organism's genes.
Flowering plants use pollen-derived sperm cells to join with egg cells to produce seeds.
Each seed is genetically unique after sexual reproduction.
Asexual reproduction in plants produces genetically identical daughter plants.
Vielle-Calzada began researching asexual seeds a decade ago.
He decided to investigate apomixis, which is a specific type of asexual reproduction.
Many plant species use apomixis to generate viable seeds without sperm and egg fusion.
This method of asexual reproduction creates seeds that are essentially clones of the parent plant.
Using apomixis has great potential for crop improvement.
Around 350 families of flowering plants rely on apomixis to reproduce.
Nearly all plants used for food reproduce sexually.