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Apomixis - An Overview, Types

Apomixis - An Overview, Types

Edited By Irshad Anwar | Updated on Jul 07, 2025 10:48 AM IST

Apomixis is a type of biological method of seed or embryo production in plants. It involves the production of seeds without fertilisation in plants. The term apomixis was first introduced in botany by Winkler botanist, in 1908. It is an important alternative reproductive strategy in Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants. Examples of Apomictic seeds include Gramineae and Rosaceae.

This Story also Contains
  1. What is Apomixis?
  2. Types of Apomixis
  3. Apomixis Significance
  4. MCQs on Apomixis
  5. Recommended Video on Apomixis
Apomixis - An Overview, Types
Apomixis - An Overview, Types

The word apomixis is taken from two Greek words, that is, “apo” meaning away from and “mixis” meaning the act of mixing. It means the production of a plant without normal sexual reproduction. Apomixis is commonly observed in higher plants, mostly in the case of flowering plants, and these plants are those plants in which the embryo may be produced from an unfertilised egg cell. There are more than 35 families present where reproduction in plants is done by means of Apomixis.

What is Apomixis?

Apomixis is a kind of asexual seed reproduction that allows plants to produce seeds without the process of fertilisation in plants. There are some plants that show particular and special types of reproduction and these reproductions are known as apomixis and polyembryony. Apomixis is defined to be as a type of asexual reproduction and polyembryony is defined to be as a type of sexual reproduction.

When the formation of seeds occurs without the fusion of gametes (or fertilisation) then it is defined as apomixis. Polyembryony is defined as the occurrence of many embryos and these embryos are present in the same seed of a flower. Apomixis and Polyembryony are observed in most of the plants. This type of reproductive process studied in botany is explained in detail below, with examples from Apomixis.

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Types of Apomixis

Apomixis is a type of asexual reproduction where seeds form without fertilisation. There are different types of apomixis based on how the embryo develops. These include agamospermy, adventive embryony, vegetative apomixis, and more. The types of Apomixis are listed below-

Agamospermy

It is apomixis in which seeds are developed with no fertilisation, and the embryo arises from an unfertilised egg cell.

Examples: Dandelions, certain grasses

Adventive Embryony

In adventive embryony, directly from somatic cells, for example, nucellus or integuments, the embryos develop bypassing the gametic cells.

Examples: Citrus plants

Vegetative Apomixis

In vegetative apomixis, the new plants are produced from vegetative parts or organs such as bulbs, tubers, or rhizomes.

Examples: Onion, Garlic

Recurrent and Non-Recurrent Apomixis

In recurrent apomixis seeds are produced of the same ploidy degree as that of the parent plant; in nonrecurrent apomixis, the seeds would be of different ploidy

Examples: Poa species

Diplospory Apomixis

It is that type of apomixis in which the embryo sac is developed from the diploid cell without any reduction division. The chromosome number remains unreduced.

Examples: Poa species

Apospory Apomixis

In apospory the embryo sac develops from somatic cells, for example, nucellus cells, while bypassing the normal sexual reproduction process and not involving the megaspore mother cell.

Examples: Poa species

Apomixis Significance

Apomixis is important in agriculture and plant breeding because it allows seed formation without fertilisation. It helps maintain genetic uniformity, hybrid vigour, and disease resistance. This makes crop production more stable, efficient, and adaptable. There are different significance of apomixis are as follows:

Genetic Uniformity

  • Ensures offspring produced are genetically identical to the parent plant.

  • Favourable features passed down to subsequent generations remain.

Hybrid Vigour

  • The desirable characteristics in hybrid plants remain in a non-segregated fashion.

  • High yielding and vigour in subsequent generations remained.

Apomixis in Plant Breeding

  • Reduces the repeated occurrence of hybridisation processes.

  • Time and resources are saved in breeding programmes.

Stable Production of Crops

  • Consistency in quality and performance of the crops produced.

  • Reduced variability in plant populations

  • Fast Clonal Multiplication

  • Improved multiplication of the clonal plant varieties happens fast.

  • Faster adaptation to market demand

  • Adaptability to Diverse Environments

  • Wide adaptability of well-adjusted clones to other different areas is made possible

  • Agriculture in variable climatic and soil conditions is facilitated.

Disease Resistance

  • The resistance features to pests and pathogens are maintained.

  • The pathogen-induced crop failure examples decrease.

MCQs on Apomixis

Question: Apomictic embryos in Citrus arise from

  1. Synergids

  2. Maternal sporophytic tissue in ovule

  3. Antipodal cells

  4. Diploid egg

Answer: Apomictic embryos in Citrus arise from maternal sporophytic tissue (e.g. nucellus or integuments) in the ovule. Apomixis is the formation of new individuals directly through asexual reproduction without involving the formation and fusion of gametes.

Hence, the correct answer is option 2) Maternal sporophytic tissue in ovule.

Question: Following are certain statements regarding apomixis in plants:

P. Apomixis cannot be used to maintain hybrid vigor over many generations in plants.

Q. In sporophytic apomixis maternal genotype is maintained.

R. There is an event of meiosis during gametophytic apomixis which is also referred to as apomeiosis.

S. In diplospory, meiosis of the megaspore mother cell is aborted, resulting in two unreduced spores, out of which one forms the female gametophyte.

Which one of the following combinations is correct?

  1. P and Q

  2. P and R

  3. Q and R

  4. Q and S

Answer: Q. In sporophytic apomixis maternal genotype is maintained.

S. In diplospory, meiosis of the megaspore mother cell is aborted, resulting in two unreduced spores, out of which one forms the female gametophyte.

Statement P is incorrect. Apomixis, which involves asexual reproduction, cannot maintain hybrid vigour over many generations since it does not involve the recombination and genetic variation that occur through sexual reproduction.

Statement R is incorrect. Meiosis is not a part of gametophytic apomixis, and it is not referred to as apomeiosis. Gametophytic apomixis involves the development of an embryo from an unreduced egg cell or a modified female gametophyte without the need for fertilization.

Therefore, the correct combination is Q and S. In sporophytic apomixis, the maternal genotype is maintained, and in diplospory, meiosis of the megaspore mother cell is aborted, resulting in two unreduced spores, one of which forms the female gametophyte.

Hence, the correct answer is option 4) Q and S.

Question: The formation of embryo without fertilization and meiotic division

  1. Apogamy

  2. Apospory

  3. Agamospermy

  4. Diplospory

Answer: Agamospermy - The formation of embryo without fertilization and meiotic division. There are three different types of agamospermy:
(i) Diplospory
(ii) Adventive embryony
(iii) Apospory

a) Apospory - Development of gametophyte directly from a sporophyte without the occurrence of meiosis and spore formation

b) Diplospory - Reproduction using unreduced spores

Hence, the correct answer is option 3) Agamospermy.

Recommended Video on Apomixis


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the main importance of apomixis?

Apomixis plays the most important role in the  formation of infection-free embryos. It is required for the development of polyploidy.

2. What is the main difference between polyembryony and apomixis?

When the seeds are produced without the fusion of gametes (or fertilization) then it is defined  as apomixis. It is a kind of asexual reproduction .Polyembryony is defined as the occurrence of many embryos that are present in the same seed. It is a kind of asexual reproduction.

3. State some causes that are responsible for apomixis?

This can be due to cleavage of proembryo.

  • When there is development of many different embryos from other cells of embryo-sac but not from egg.

  • When there is formation of many embryos because of the presence of more than one embryo sac in the same ovule. 

  • When there occurs a formation of many embryos from the structure outside the embryo sac

4. How does apomixis benefit plant breeding?

Apomixis is a process of reproduction in plants with desired attributes whereby genetic variation is absent hence uniformity and stability in crop output.

5. What is apomixis in flowering plants?

Apomixis is a form of asexual reproduction in flowering plants where seeds are produced without fertilization. The offspring are genetically identical to the parent plant, essentially creating clones through seed production.

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