Sexual Propagation in Plants

Sexual propagation refers to the multiplication of plants by seeds. In sexual reproduction, there is a fusion of male and female gametes, because of which the seed is produced. The seed plant can be different from the parent plant and the seeds are formed by meiosis.

Advantages:

1. Propagation from seed is easy.
2. Sexual propagation plays an important role in creating diversity in plants. And diversity sometimes gives higher-yielding plants called a chance seedling.
3. Seed-grown plants are long-living, more tolerant to the soil, climate, and diseases.
4. In some plants, the new plants cannot be prepared with asexual propagation, in that case, plants are raised from seeds only.
5. Polyembryony is found in some fruit trees such as citrus, mangoes, and Jamun. Plants in such seeds are produced from integument tissue and nucellar cells of the embryo. This type of plant is free from fertilization and has the same parental qualities.
6. Apomixis is found in some plant species, such as in some species of apple, (Malus sikymensis, apensis, M. sergenti), causing plant-borne seeds similar in quality to ancestors.

Apomixis: – Development of the fetus through asexual reproduction.

7. For asexual propagation methods, the rootstock is prepared from the seed itself.

Disadvantages:

1. Most of the plants grown from seed do not have the same ancestral or parental qualities.
2. The juvenile phase of seeded plants is very long, so flowering and fruiting are very late.
3. Seeded plants are tall and tangled in shape, so there is difficulty in cultural and other horticultural activities.
4. Seeded plant’s quality of fruits and yield is low.
5. Some diseases like Psorosis in citrus and some viruses in peaches and litchi are carried by seeds so healthy plants cannot be obtained.