Question

What is the importance of apomixis?

Answer 1

Winkler introduced the term “apomixis” in 1908. Apomixis is an aberrant type of sexual reproduction in which the egg or other cells linked with the egg (synergids, antipodals, etc.) grow into an embryo without fertilisation and with or without meiosis. Hybrid versions of many food and vegetable crops are widely grown. The cultivation of hybrids significantly enhanced production. One of the challenges with hybrids is that hybrid seeds must be created each year. If hybrid seeds are sown, the plants will segregate and lose their hybrid characteristics. Hybrid seed production is expensive, making hybrid seeds expensive for farmers. If these hybrids are transformed into apomicts, there is no character segregation in the hybrid progeny. Farmers can then continue to use hybrid seeds to grow new crops year after year, minimising the need to purchase hybrid seeds each year. Apomixis embryos are normally infection-free.