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#vegetative propagation

6 public questions tagged with this topic.

Plant Breeding 3

Clonal degeneration is mainly due to:

Clonal degeneration is progressive decline in vigor, yield, and quality of a clone over successive vegetative generations despite genetic identity maintained by mitosis. Major cause is systemic accumulation of viruses, phytoplasmas, and viroids in phloem and meristems, transmitted mechanically through propagules because sexual filter absent that normally excludes many pathogens. Potato seed tubers accumulate Potato Virus Y and Leafroll Virus, sugarcane accumulates mosaic virus and ratoon stunting disease, banana accumulates Bunchy Top Virus, strawberries accumulate mottle viruses. Mixed infect

Ref: Loebenstein G & Katis NI. Plant Virus Diseases in clonal crops; Faccioli G. Potato degeneration review

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Plant Breeding 3

Clonal crops propagate mainly by:

Clonal crops rely predominantly on asexual propagation bypassing sexual cycle: stem cuttings in sugarcane and grape, tubers and eyes in potato, rhizomes in ginger and banana, stolons in strawberry, bulbs in garlic and onion, grafts and budding in mango and apple, and tissue culture micropropagation in banana and ornamentals. Sexual reproduction is rare, irregular, or produces offspring that deviate from mother type due to high heterozygosity and segregation, losing commercial quality traits governed by complex epistasis. Vegetative organs contain somatic meristems capable of organized growth,

Ref: Hartmann HT & Kester DE. Plant Propagation Principles, Chapter cloning. George EF et al. Micropropagation

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Plant Breeding 3

Clonal selection is applicable to:

Clonal selection targets crops propagated vegetatively where genotype is conserved intact through mitosis without meiosis or segregation. Examples include potato propagated via tubers, sugarcane via stem cuttings, banana via suckers, sweet potato via vine cuttings, and fruit trees via grafting and budding. These species are highly heterozygous, often polyploid, and suffer severe inbreeding depression if selfed, making seed propagation undesirable and genetically unstable. Superior clone arises via natural mutation, introduction, or hybridization followed by segregation in seedling population w

Ref: Acquaah Chapter 18 Vegetatively propagated crops. Hartman & Kester Plant Propagation – clonal selection principles

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Plant Breeding 1

Vegetative propagation does NOT include:

Vegetative propagation defined strictly as formation of new plant from somatic organ outside sexual process: bulb comprised of fleshy scale leaves enclosing short stem as in onion and garlic, corm solid compressed stem storing starch in gladiolus, tuber swollen underground stem with axillary buds eyes in potato, rhizome horizontal stem with nodes in ginger, runner stolon in strawberry. These structures originate from meristem and carry preformed buds capable of sprouting under favorable moisture. Seeds, in contrast, derive from double fertilization event where one sperm fertilizes egg forming

Ref: Hartmann & Kester Principles vegetative vs seed; NCERT Class XII Vegetative Propagation; ICAR Handbook.

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Plant Breeding 1

Asexual reproduction in plants produces:

Asexual reproduction in higher plants bypasses syngamy, producing progeny via mitotic divisions from somatic tissues, preserving maternal genotype intact except somatic mutations. Modes include vegetative propagation through runners, rhizomes, suckers, tubers, bulbs, corms and apomictic seed formation via nucellar embryony where diploid nucellar cells develop into embryos without meiosis. Because meiosis absent, segregation does not occur and heterozygosity fixed, resulting in clones that are phenotypically uniform. Meristematic activity regulated by cytokinin-auxin balance induces adventitiou

Ref: Hartmann & Kester Plant Propagation Asexual cloning; NCERT Class XII Reproduction chapter; Acquaah Clonal crops.

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