Asexual Reproduction in Plants

1. Asexual Reproduction in Plants

2. Asexual Reproduction in Plants • Asexual reproduction is the formation of new individuals from the cell(s) of a single parent • It is very common in plants; less so in animals

3. Asexual Reproduction in Plants Important points about asexual reproduction in plant • Asexual reproduction in seed plants is common • Asexual plant reproduction requires only one organism • The new plants have the same genetic structure as the parents • Seed plants use different methods of asexual reproduction • Asexual reproduction is not as complex and requires far less energy • Organisms that are genetically identical to their parent are known as clones

4. Types of Asexual Reproduction • Rhizomes • Tubers • Runners • Cuttings • Bulbs • Corms • Cell Culture • Tissue Culture

5. Rhizomes • Plants such as the grasses, cattails and sedges produce underground stems or rhizomes • Buds produced at the nodes develop into branches that stay underground or develop into aerial shoots • If the rhizomes subsequently dies, a new separate plant will have been formed

6. Tubers • Tubers are actually modified rhizomes • They develop when specialized stem branches grow down into the ground and swell up with starch containing cells • Buds of the tubers will grow into new plants

7. Runners • These are horizontally growing stems that produce few, if any, leaves • The stems, called runners, creep along the ground • The runners can be cut from the parent plant and new plants will grow

8. Cuttings • Cuttings involve vegetative plants that have been removed and rooted in soil or other suitable material • Cuttings are made from stems, roots or leaves • A cutting or piece of carrot root can develop into a new carrot if placed over a container of water

9. Bulbs • Onions, chives and lillies winter in the form of a bulb • Each bulb has a very short stem which is surrounded by fleshy leaves • In the spring, the shoot apex begins to grow using the nutrients stored in the leaves

10. Corms • This structure is similar to bulbs except that there are no storage leaves • The nutrients are, instead, stored in the swollen stem

11. Cell Culture • Sometimes just one cell can regenerate into an entire plant • One cell from a carrot taproot is put into a tube of water with plant nutrients, the one cell divides and forms a bunch of cells under special conditions, roots and leaves develop, the small carrot plant grows into a carrot identical to the carrot from which the one cell came

12. Tissue Culture • Engineered cells of some plants can readily be used to regenerate entire plants under sterile conditions • Tissue culture works when the cell culture returns to an undifferentiated state • The process involves placing the engineered cells in an environment with special hormones and nutrients that encourage cell growth • Eventually the tissue culture forms leaves and roots and finally an entire plant

13. That's All I got for Today!!!!