What are some advantages and disadvantages of allopolploidy compared to autopolyploidy?

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Alvin Green

Biology

6 May, 02:12

What are some advantages and disadvantages of allopolploidy compared to autopolyploidy?

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Ernesto Edwards · Answer 1

Some of the advantages of allopolyploidy over autopolyploidy are:

1. Allopolyploids generate a different set of gametes due to allelic diversity as they originate from distinct parental species. On the other hand, autopolyploids do not generate different sets of gametes as they originate from similar parental species.

2. Allopolyploids demonstrate heterozygosity, while autopolyploids show homozygosity.

3. Asexual reproduction of allopolyploids is more effective in comparison to diploid selfing as they possess gene diversity, while selfing in autopolyploids is not as effective as they comprise alleles, which are copies of each other.

Some of the disadvantages of allopolyploids over autopolyploids are as follows:

1. The hybrids of allopolyploidy are generally sterile, for example, mule produced by the mating of female horse with male donkeys. On the other hand, autopolyploidy exhibit homozygosity so their hybrid is generally fertile.

2. Allopolyploidy generates unbalanced number of chromosomes in the zygote like in triploid conditions that may be lethal. While autopolyploidy takes place because of genome duplication, thus, chromosome numbers are balanced.