How do plants produce seeds through apomixis? Explain with the help of an example.

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Why is ZIFT a boon to childless couples? Explain the procedure.

A few flowering plants have a special mechanism to produce seeds without fertilisation which is called apomixis. It is a form of asexual reproduction mimicking sexual reproduction. In some species, the diploid egg cell is formed without reduction division and then develops into the embryo without fertilisation.

In many varieties of Citrus fruits, some of the nucellar cells surrounding the embryo sac starts to divide and protrude into the embryo sac developing into embryos.

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ZIFT is a boon to childless couples because the problem of infertility is solved by this technique which is a form of Assisted Reproductive Technology that circumvent infertility.

In the process of ZIFT, fertilization occurs in a laboratory. Egg is retrieved from the ovary of the mother and then fertilization is done in the laboratory. The zygote with up to 8 blastomeres formed in the fertilization process is transferred or implanted to the fallopian tube of the mother by the process of laparoscopy.