Question

Which is agamospermy?
A. Layering
B. Grafting
C. Adventive embryony
D. All the above

Answer 1

Hint: Agamospermy is also known as apomixis. Apomixis is a type of asexual reproduction that mimics sexual reproduction. In apomixis, embryonic development occurs without fertilization.

Complete Answer:
- Asexual reproduction creates individuals that are genetically identical to the parent plant. Roots such as rhizomes, stem tubers, and stolons undergo vegetative reproduction. Some plants can produce seeds without fertilisation via apomixis where new seeds are produced by the ovules or ovaries.
- Some flowering plants, like some species of Asteraceae and grasses, have established a special mechanism for growing seeds without fertilisation. This mechanism is known as apomixis.
- Agamospermy is a form of asexual reproduction in which the growth of plants occurs through asexual seeds.
- In agamospermy, one or more sporophytic cells undergo embryonic stages and ultimately develop into a mature embryo.

Agamospermy is further classified into two categories: gametophytic apomixis and sporophytic apomixis.
(I) In gametophytic apomixis, an embryo is created from an unreduced female gametophyte that is diploid because it is unreduced.
(II) Sporophytic apomixis is also known as an adventive embryony. In sporsphyticembryony, the embryo is produced directly from the diploid sporophytic cells of the ovule. These diploid sporophytic cells undergo embryogeny stage and then grow into a mature embryo.
- Layering and grafting are the types of asexual reproduction through which they can produce a new plant. But in these processes new plants cannot occurs through asexual seeds.

Thus, the correct answer is option C, i.e., Adventive embryony.

Note: Adventive embryony is a method of embryonic development without fertilisation. The embryo does not grow from the reproductive cells or from the gametes. They can grow from the nucleus or the integumentary cells.