Both taking cuttings and micropropagation produce large numbers of genetically identical plants. This has benefits and drawbacks for growers and for agriculture.Advantages of plant cloning• All plants have the same desirable characteristics, such as high yield, flavour or disease resistance, and they are uniform, which makes harvesting easier.
• It is much quicker than growing from seed, and a very large number of plants can be produced from one parent.
• Plants that are sterile or produce seeds poorly, such as seedless bananas and grapes, can be reproduced.
• Rare or endangered plants can be multiplied quickly.
• Micropropagation from meristems produces disease-free plants, and can be done at any time of year in a small space.
• Genetically modified plants can be multiplied easily.Disadvantages of plant cloning• There is no genetic variation, so all plants are equally vulnerable to the same disease, pest or change in climate. A single pathogen could destroy a whole crop.
• Large areas of one clone form a monoculture, which reduces biodiversity.
• Micropropagation is expensive and needs skilled workers and sterile laboratories.
• If the culture becomes contaminated by bacteria or fungi, the whole batch can be lost.
• Any undesirable allele in the parent is passed to every clone.Worked example: a micropropagation lab produces 10 000 banana plantlets, of which 3% are lost to contamination. The number surviving is 10 000 × 0.97 = 9700.
• It is much quicker than growing from seed, and a very large number of plants can be produced from one parent.
• Plants that are sterile or produce seeds poorly, such as seedless bananas and grapes, can be reproduced.
• Rare or endangered plants can be multiplied quickly.
• Micropropagation from meristems produces disease-free plants, and can be done at any time of year in a small space.
• Genetically modified plants can be multiplied easily.Disadvantages of plant cloning• There is no genetic variation, so all plants are equally vulnerable to the same disease, pest or change in climate. A single pathogen could destroy a whole crop.
• Large areas of one clone form a monoculture, which reduces biodiversity.
• Micropropagation is expensive and needs skilled workers and sterile laboratories.
• If the culture becomes contaminated by bacteria or fungi, the whole batch can be lost.
• Any undesirable allele in the parent is passed to every clone.Worked example: a micropropagation lab produces 10 000 banana plantlets, of which 3% are lost to contamination. The number surviving is 10 000 × 0.97 = 9700.