Q.Do you think parthenocarpy and apomixis are different processes? Justify.

Step 1. Apomixis is defined as reproduction that substitutes for the normal sexual system by skipping meiosis and syngamy - but it still results in a functional seed containing an embryo (via vegetative reproduction, adventive embryony, diplospory or apospory).

Step 2. Parthenocarpy, by contrast, is the development of a fruit-like structure from the ovary without any act of fertilization taking place - and such fruits invariably lack true seeds altogether, since no embryo or seed tissue forms at all.

Step 3. So the key distinction is what is missing: apomixis skips only the gamete-fusion step of reproduction while still producing a seed and embryo by an alternative route, whereas parthenocarpy skips fertilization entirely and produces no seed or embryo whatsoever - only a seedless fruit. …

Compare what each process actually produces - apomixis still makes a seed/embryo by an alternate route …

• Assuming that because both processes 'skip' normal fertilization, they must be the same phenomenon, without …