Apomixis

Apomixis is derived from Greek, where "APO" means away from and "mixis" means acts of mingling or mixing.
Generally, apomixis represents the occurence of a different sexual reproductive process in place of normal sexual
processes

which

involves

reduction

division

and

fertilization.

Apomixis is widely seen in higher plants. More 300 species of plants which belong to 35 families show apomixis.
Some of the families where apomixis is seen is gramineae, compositae, rosaceae and rutaceae. Some common
plants

like

maize,

wheat

and

pearl

millet

have

realtives

showing

apomixis.

Hans winkler in 1908 defined it as the substitute process for sexual reproduction or another sexual reproductive
process

and

it

does

not

involve

nuclear

or

cellular

fusion.

Apomixis can help to maintain favorable traits for the survival of an individual but in the linger-time process of
evolution it eliminates the advantage of biparental inheritance.

Definition
Apomixis is defined as the type of sexual reproductive process in which organs or related sexual structures take
part in the process other but there is formation of seeds without the union of gametes.
Apomixis is a process of reproduction by special generative tissues without fertilization in which the generative
tissues can be a sporophytes or gametophyte.

Types of Apomixis
There are four types of apomixis suggested by Maheshwari in 1954.

Recurrent Apomixis

In recurrent apomixis, an embryosac is developed from the megaspore mother cell.

The egg-cell is diploid and the embryo is also diploid.

The embryo-sac develops directly without the process of fertilization.

Some processes like diploid parthenogenesis, diploid apogamy and somatic apospory are recurrent
apomixis.

Diploid parthenogenesis occurs in somatic embryo sacs.

Some of the species which show recurrent apomixis are species of blue grass, onion, and apple.

Non-recurrent apomixis

Non-recurrent apomixis is where an embryo arises directly from a normal egg-cell without the process of
fertilization.

Egg cells is haploid and hence, the resulting embryo is also haploid.

Non-recurrent apomixis includes haploid parthenogenesis, haploid apogamy and adrogamy.

These types of apomixis are rare and are of genetic interest.

Adventive embryony

In adventive embryony, the embryo arises from a cell or a group of cells in the nucleus or in the
integuments. Example - Oranges and roses.

This process takes place in the embryo sac and is regenerated with accuracy.

In addition to adventive embryony process, regular embryo within the embryo sac may also develop
simultaneously resulting in poly-embryony condition.

Example - Citrus, Oputnia.

Vegetative apomixis

In some plants like Poa bulbosa, some Allium, Agave and some grass species, vegetative buds are
produced instead of flowers in the inflorescence.

They can be reproduced without difficulty.

Agamospermy
Agamospermy is process of asexual seed formation, this occurs in flowering plants in many different mechanisms.
Three types of agamospermy exists:

Diplospory is where the dilpoid embryo-sace or the mother cell develops directly into an embryo by the
process known as parthenogenesis.

Apospory is where the embryo is orginated from somatic cell from the surrounding embryo sac mother
cell.

In the above types of agamospermy there is development of gametophyte but there is no meiotic division. Hence, it
is known as gametophytic apomixis.

Adventitious embryony is a type of agamospermy where there is no development of gametophytes. The

embryo is formed from cells of the diploid sporophyte like the integument.

Advantages of Apomixis
The self and cross fertilization processes results in alteration of the genetic composition of plants. Plants bred
through apomixis tend to conserve the genetic structure of their carriers. They can maintain the advantages of
heterozygosity generation after generation. Such a process might offer great advantage in plant breeding where
genetic uniformity can be maintained over generations.
The benefits of apomixis in plant breeding are:

Apomixis results in rapid multiplication genetically similar individuals without risk of segregation.

Heterosis or hybrid vigour can be maintained permanently in crop plants.

There can be efficient exploitation of maternal effect from generation to generation.

Homozygous inbred lines can be rapidly developed as they produce sectors of diploid tissues and
occasional fertile gametes and seeds.