Apomixis

Its name is derived from the Greek words “APO” (away from) and “MIXED,” which mean “mixed up” ( the act of mixing or mingling). It refers to the formation of a plant from a seed that has not gone through the normal processes of fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Apomixis is a term that refers to the asexual process and can be defined as follows: The plant that is produced is a clone of the female parent plant that was produced.

During sexual reproduction, developmental steps that take place inside the ovule result in the formation of the female gametophyte (embryo sac), which then gives rise to the embryo and endosperm structures after a double fertilisation event.

Apomixis is a condition that occurs frequently in higher plants. Plants from more than 35 different families have been identified as apomictic, including the Gramineae, Rosaceae, Compositae, and Rutaceae. Apomixis can be found in major cereals such as maize and wheat.

Apomixis

The term Apomixis can also be defined as a type of asexual reproduction that occurs via seeds and in which embryos develop without fertilisation, which occurs naturally in other plants.It is also known as asexual seed formation, and it is the result of a plant gaining the ability to perform the most important process by bypassing the most fundamental and basic aspects of sexual reproduction, meiosis, and fertilisation. Apomixis is a type of seed formation that occurs when a plant gains the ability to produce seeds without going through the traditional sexual reproduction processes of pollination and fertilisation. Because there is no requirement for male fertilisation, the resulting seed germinates and grows into a plant that is genetically identical to the mother plant’s clone in every way.

Characteristics of Apomixis

The following are the characteristics of Apomixis:

• It is an asexual method of plant reproduction that can be found in many species, but is particularly prevalent among fruit crops.
• Because the process does not involve the union of male and female gametes, there is no genetic recombination as a result of the procedure.
• It is not the case that apomixis causes the generation of variability in a population.
• Apomixis does not allow for gene flow, which means that it does not allow for the combination of genes derived from various sources.
• Parthenogenesis, which can be accomplished through haploid parthenogenesis, aids in the rapid development of pure lines.
• Apomixis can be genetically controlled, and it can be beneficial in preserving superior genotypes and hybrid vigour in a variety of situations.
• It has been found in more than 300 plant species belonging to 35 different families.

Apomixis Examples

It is possible to observe apomixis in plants such as hawthorns, shadbush, Sorbus, brambles, and blackberries, meadow grasses such as mat grass and hawkweeds, and many other species of plants.

Advantages of Apomixis

It is possible for apomictic plants to conserve the genetic structure of their carriers, which allows them to maintain heterozygote advantages for a long period of time. It is extremely useful in plant breeding because it ensures that genetic uniformity is maintained for both homozygosity and heterozygosity. The following are some of the benefits of apomixis:

• Multiplication of genetically uniform progenies at a rapid rate without the risk of segregation
• Crop plants can be genetically modified to retain hybrid vigour or heterosis indefinitely.
• This can be done from generation to generation if maternal characteristics are present in the progenies of the original mother.

Significance of Apomixis

Apomixis has a significant impact on the plant breeding industry, and its significance is enormous. Without fertilisation, it is a method of developing seeds. When it comes to asexual reproduction, it is referred to as a method that mimics the process of sexual reproduction. It aids in the production of hybrid seeds and is cost-effective when it comes to large-scale production of the seeds themselves. It also results in a boost in productivity. Because there is no cross-fertilization, apomixis also aids in the preservation of a crop plant’s desirable qualities.

Conclusion

When a plant acquires the ability to bypass the most fundamental aspects of sexual reproduction, such as meiosis and fertilisation, it is known as apomixis (asexual seed formation). It is not necessary to use male fertilisation in order for the resulting seed to germinate, and the plant that develops is known as a maternal clone. Apophism has been documented in many flowering plant species, although no major seed crops have been shown to be capable of this dramatic shift in reproductive processes. Ability to generate maternal clones and, as a result, quickly fix desirable genotypes in crop species could help agricultural breeding strategies to move forward more quickly in the future. Because of the potential of apomixis as a next-generation breeding technology, there has been an increase in interest in the mechanisms that control apomixis in recent years. It is our goal in this review to discuss the advances that have been made in our understanding of the genetic and molecular control of apomixis. At the moment, research is being conducted on two fronts.