How do seedless fruits arise and how are they propagated?

Answer 1

Your question merits attention!

It has been nicely answered on the following links . Just click on them , scroll down and read.

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seedless_Fruit

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenocarpy

3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenospermocarpy

4) http://ask.yahoo.com/20010611.html

5) http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/CV006

6) http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/newsletters/hortupdate/may00/h5may00.html

7) http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2002-04/1020215334.Ag.r.html

8) http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Seedless-Fruits-and-Vegetables.html

9) http://science.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/seedless-fruits-vegetables

10) http://www.hindu.com/seta/2005/03/03/stories/2005030301251600.htm

You have now quite a handful of sites. 'Bon Reading!! '

Answer 2

some common seedless fruits are grapes, citrus fruits (orange, lemons, lime ) , banana.
seedless fruits are commercially valuable as seeds are
considered a nuisance by consumers and seedless fruits are easier to eat & preferred over seeded fruits.
Seedless fruits are produced in two ways:
1. fruits are developed without any fertilisation ( parthenocarpy ).
2.pollination triggers fruit development but the ovules or embryo abort without producing matured seeds. (stenospermocarpy).
seedless fruits of banana and watermelon are produced on triploid plants whose 3 sets of chromosomes prevent meiosis from taking place.and thus donot produce fertile gametes. Such plants can arise by spontaneous mutations or by hybridisation between diploid and tetraploid individuals of the same species.
Some species of fruits produce seedless fruits if not pollinated, but seeded fruits if pollinated. eg: pineapple, cucumber.
seedless plants are propagated by cuttings, by grafting ,
in case of banana from 'pups'(offsets) .in such cases the resulting plants are genetically identical clones.
Seedless water melons are grown from seeds. seeds are produced by crossing tetraploid and diploid lines of water melon with the resulting seeds producing triploid plants.
Fruit development is triggered by pollination. These plants must be grown along the side of diploid strain to provide pollen.
One disadvantage is - most of the seedless crops are genetically identical clones, a pest or disease that can harm one individual can harm every individual of that clone.
For eg:the vast majority of commercially introduced bananas come from a single clone the' Cavendish' cultivar which is threatened by a fungal disease worldwide.

Answer 3

seedeless fruits or parthenocarpic fruits are produced by a process of parthenocarpy. in general the fruits are produced from a seed but some plants produce without a seed
this can be done either by stopping the process of seed production by usage of certain chemicals.

parthenocarpic fruits have longer shelf life and is advantageous during transportation

Answer 4

Fruit development normally begins when one or more egg cells in the ovular compartment of the flower are fertilized by sperm nuclei from pollen. In some plants, however, fruit develops without fertilization, a phenomenon known as parthenocarpy. Parthenocarpic fruit has advantages over seeded fruit: longer shelf life and greater consumer appeal.

The most frequent reasons for lack of seed development are pollination failure, or nonfunctional eggs or sperm. In many plants, self-incompatibility genes limit successful fertilization to cross-pollination between genetically different male and female parents. This property is exploited by citrus farmers who grow seedless fruits, such as navel oranges and clementines. Because these cultivars are self-incompatible, they fail to set seed when they are planted in orchards of identical plants (clones). These plants have a high frequency of parthenocarpy, however, so they still produce fruit. Such trees do not require seed for propagation. In fact, propagation by seed would be disadvantageous because the progeny would differ from the parent. Instead nurserymen frequently propagate fruit trees asexually, usually by grafting.

Another frequent reason for lack of successful fertilization is chromosomal imbalance. For example, the common banana is triploid. In other words, it has three sets of chromosomes. Instead of having one set of chromosomes from each parent, it has two sets from one parent and one set from the other parent. Triploids seldom produce eggs or sperm that have a balanced set of chromosomes and so successful seed set is very rare. Bananas, too, are parthenocarpic and produce fruit in the absence of successful fertilization. These bananas are asexually propagated. After the stalk has flowered and borne fruit, it dies. But there are side shoots or suckers at the base of the main stalk, which can be removed and replanted to continue the cultivar. Growers also propagate bananas by tissue culture.

Seedless watermelons are particularly interesting because they must be propagated by seed, and yet growers can still exploit parthenocarpy. One way to make seedless watermelons is to produce triploid seed. As in the case of bananas, triploid watermelons cannot produce functional seed, but they still develop good fruit through parthenocarpy. Plant breeders produce triploid seed by crossing a normal diploid parent with a tetraploid parent, which itself is made by genetically manipulating diploids to double their chromosome number. In the case of watermelons, this manipulation has to be performed each generation, so it is a somewhat expensive proposition but still worthwhile.

Plant biologists have learned that if the plant hormone auxin is produced early in ovule development, parthenocarpic fruit can grow on plants that do not usually exhibit this property. Thus, genetic engineering will most likely give consumers parthenocarpic fruit in many other species in the near future..

Answer 5

For instance, take banana; many banana plant grows around the mother tree and spreads around, which is how it is propagated.

Answer 6

Planting of clippings directly from the mother plant.

Answer 7

cuttings!