Question

African violets are plants that can be grown from leaf cuttings. The cuttings form both roots and shoots. How does the genetic material of the offspring of new plants grown from cuttings compare to the genetic material of the parent plant?

Answer 1

The offspring of new plants grown from cuttings, such as African violets, have the same genetic material as the parent plant because they are produced through asexual reproduction, resulting in genetically identical clones.

Step-by-step explanation:

Genetic Material of Offspring Grown from Cuttings

The genetic material of the offspring of new plants grown from cuttings is identical to the genetic material of the parent plant. This process is a form of asexual reproduction, where a part of the parent plant - typically a stem, a leaf, or a root - is used to grow a new plant. For African violets, leaf cuttings placed in moist soil or water will root and develop into new plants. These new plants are clones of the parent plant, meaning they have the same genetic information.

Asexual reproduction is beneficial for rapidly propagating plants and ensuring that desirable traits are preserved. However, it also means that all offspring are genetically uniform, which can increase susceptibility to diseases and environmental changes. In contrast, sexual reproduction introduces genetic variation, which can lead to more resilient populations over time.

Answer 2

the same

Step-by-step explanation:

The genetic materials of the offspring of new plants grown from cuttings and that of the parent plant are usually the same.

The type of reproduction at play here is asexual. Asexual reproduction involves only a single parent and ensures that both the resulting offspring and the parent share the same genetic material.

The process of asexual reproduction involves mitosis - the division of vegetative cells. Both the parent cells and the daughter cells of mitosis are identical - phenotypically and genotypically.