Also kind of an interesting side note to what I was talking about before. Plants aren't the only living organisms on Earth with the ability to reproduce asexually. I've often found it fascinating that a lot of marine life can do it as well. Anemones, jellyfish, and certain corals can also do this especially stony corals. The stony corals are the ones that fascinate me the most because they are almost like a bridge between plant and animal.
They have the structure and look of underwater trees but the way they ingest food is more like an animal. Almost like their roots are on the stems and branches instead of in the ground.
Yes I agree, in the wild sexual reproduction is definitely the preferred method for plants, animals, and invertebrates. There are very few instances of asexual reproduction within any of these classifications but not to the point where it can't be observed. I was referring more to what happens with human intervention. Not necessarily with vertebrates but more with plants and invertebrates as they seem to adapt to it more easily.Vegetative propagation by cuttings has more to do with cell potency rather than the ability to reproduce asexually. It is true that plants with high cell potency do tend to use the method in the wild to reproduce. Some plants will only reproduce sexually. I think a lot of this makes sense. Animals don't really have any advantage to let's say growing another mouth on an arm. So it makes sense that animal cells will not differentiate.
Yes I agree, in the wild sexual reproduction is definitely the preferred method for plants, animals, and invertebrates. There are very few instances of asexual reproduction within any of these classifications but not to the point where it can't be observed. I was referring more to what happens with human intervention. Not necessarily with vertebrates but more with plants and invertebrates as they seem to adapt to it more easily.
Cell potency as you put it seems to be higher in these two classifications; as to why that is perhaps evolution played a role?
its been a couple grows since i posted here.
Yes, a lot of them use asexual reproduction to survive predation or fertilization failure. For example, Agave species bloom once and die. Sometimes that may take over 20 years to occur. In order for fertilization to occur, another plant has to be flowering at the same time. Some Agaves make pups around the base of the mother. If no seed is produced, the plant lives on. However, due to human ranching of the desert, Agave species that do not pup are critically endangered. Cattle eat the inflorescences and the plant spends 15-20 years just to completely fail. Many stonecrops (succulent) can reproduce from stems, leaves, buds... in the wild. Growth is slow in the desert so it's very useful for parts of the plant to survive predation and the water storage capabilities make that easy. There are even old hybrids of cacti that don't sexually reproduce at all. (photo attached of the largest population of a species that only reproduces via stem joints and fruits)
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Figs live on rocky stream banks. Their high cell potency allows root pieces, stems, etc. to form new plants if the plant is damaged by flooding. Basically, plants have chemical regulators that can figure out if they are on the ground, which side is facing upward... So there is no downside to forming different organs when there is high confidence that it is beneficial.
all this talk of asexual reproduction among certain plants and animals...I don't think that actually exists. Cloning isn't asexual reproduction--it's cloning. when they reproduce, they may lie dormant and clone and wait until favorable conditions, but they only actually reproduce when two gametes become available, right? The only living organisms that I know of that can asexually reproduce are protists, right?
....I could be wrong about plants and over-thinking it. I guess cloning can generally be considered reproduction because that's essentially what bacteria do (budding). It's still mitosis only, no meiosis, I believe. I don't really care about plants anyway because they are very boring in the lab, lol.
I don't know what goes into animal cloning but for plants (tissue culture), the meristematic cells are totipotent so they can turn into any type of plant cell. Because the cells are reproduced via mitosis, it's asexual. Of course, mutations can occur.
I posted a photo above of a plant that can only reproduce asexually.
Not even glow in the dark plants...?
I would love to bromy stash has run dry, Mayne, can you re-up me via FedEx? tks.
Is there a difference? Asexual production of clones is very common in Horticulture and in Aquaculture. Sounds like your field of expertise is in mammals which yeah asexual reproduction is very rare and in most cases only observed in highly controlled laboratory settings.all this talk of asexual reproduction among certain plants and animals...I don't think that actually exists. Cloning isn't asexual reproduction--it's cloning. when they reproduce, they may lie dormant and clone and wait until favorable conditions, but they only actually reproduce when two gametes become available, right? The only living organisms that I know of that can asexually reproduce are protists, right?
those animals that can reproduce when useless males can't be found...they actually either swap genders (so an individual fertilizes itself--still sexual reproduction as biology defines it, ....which is where the term comes from), or certain species (there are a few fish and, I believe, some insects), that don't even have "males" in their species. Each female is heterogametic and just fertilizes themselves (The y chromosome is disappearing from the world, anyway; so it's not like males, of any living species, are going to be around forever)
....I could be wrong about plants and over-thinking it. I guess cloning can generally be considered reproduction because that's essentially what bacteria do (budding). It's still mitosis only, no meiosis, I believe. I don't really care about plants anyway because they are very boring in the lab, lol.
But animals...I'm not aware of one that can actually reproduce a-sexually. (of course there's all sorts of weird systems out there, but ultimately requires two gametes to come together and get it on)
I would love to bro
I don't know a lot about ocean forest...but I heard good things.Looking good man. You're really getting the hang of indoor growing. Just out of curiosity what's your take on Fox Farms products? I'm getting a lot of customers asking for their Ocean Forest potting soil and just wondering if you've ever used it or any of their other products?