The key difference between vegetative reproduction and asexual reproduction is that the vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction that uses a vegetative part of the parent to propagate while asexual reproduction is a mode of reproduction that involves a single parent.
Reproduction ensures the continuation of living organisms. There are two methods of reproduction; they are the sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction involves two organisms of opposite sex while asexual reproduction involves only a single parent. Plants show both sexual and asexual reproduction methods. Among them, vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction commonly adopted in plants to propagate them.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Vegetative Reproduction
3. What is Asexual Reproduction
4. Similarities Between Vegetative Reproduction and Asexual Reproduction
5. Side by Side Comparison – Vegetative Reproduction vs Asexual Reproduction in Tabular Form
6. Summary
What is Vegetative Reproduction?
Vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction that takes place in plants. Plants propagate by stems, leaves or roots in this method. In simple words, vegetative reproduction refers to the plant propagation method which involves the use of a fragment or a part of a parent plant such as a leaf, a stem part or a root to make a new plant.
Figure 01: Vegetative Reproduction
As the best example of vegetative reproduction, we can take the potato tubers, which are the result of asexual reproduction. These tubers are advantageous for farmers as they do not need any seeds for reproduction.
However, one disadvantage of vegetative reproduction is that the new plants grow close to their parents, and hence, they have to share the same resources. Because of this, they have to fight for light and nutrition from the soil. Thus, the new plants may become less healthy compared to the ones derived from sexual reproduction. One interesting fact of vegetative reproduction is that the plants that reproduce in this manner tend to reproduce sexually too and produce fruits and seeds.
What is Asexual Reproduction?
Asexual reproduction is one of the two methods of reproduction. And, this method involves only a single parent in the reproduction. Furthermore, it does not involve meiosis and fertilization.
There are many types of asexual reproduction, and some of them are; binary fission, budding, vegetative reproduction, spore formation, fragmentation, parthenogenesis, and agamogenesis.
Figure 02: Asexual Reproduction
Moreover, asexual reproduction is common in prokaryotes such as eubacteria and archaea. Besides, it is common among the fungi as well. In adition to that, plants and some animals also show asexual reproduction together with sexual reproduction.
What are the Similarities Between Vegetative Reproduction and Asexual Reproduction?
- Vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction.
- Both types of reproduction involve a single parent.
- Furthermore, both methods produce genetically identical offspring.
What is the Difference Between Vegetative Reproduction and Asexual Reproduction?
Vegetative reproduction is an asexual reproduction method in plants. It uses parts of the parent plant to produce a new plant. Therefore, the newly developed plants are genetically identical to the parent plant. Similarly, asexual reproduction too produces offsprings that are genetically identical to the parent. However, though both methods involve a single parent, in vegetative reproduction, the reproduction of offsprings occurs mainly through stems, roots, and leaves. Whereas, asexual reproduction can take place either via binary fission, budding, vegetative reproduction, spore formation, fragmentation, parthenogenesis, or agamogenesis. Hence, this is the key difference between vegetative reproduction and asexual reproduction.
Summary – Vegetative Reproduction vs Asexual Reproduction
Asexual reproduction is a kind of reproduction where there is a single parent, and the offspring is the clone of its parent. Therefore, no meiosis or fertilization takes place in asexual reproduction, and there is no fusion of gametes as well. Meanwhile, vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction that takes place in plants. In vegetative reproduction, a fragment or a part of parent plant develops into a new plant. Hence, tThis is the difference between vegetative reproduction and asexual reproduction.
Reference:
1.“Asexual Reproduction.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Nov. 2018. Available here
Image Courtesy:
1.”Muscari displaying vegetative reproduction”By Gut Monk – Own work, (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2.”Asexual reproduction of sea anemone”By Brocken Inaglory, (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia