Articles on Biology topics quite helpful for researchers

Difference Between Self Pollination and Cross-Pollination is that In the cross-pollination process, pollen is transferred from one plant to another by a pollinator, such as an insect, or by the wind. In self-pollination, the stamen of the plant sheds pollen directly on its own stigma.

What plants self-pollinate?

Most plants use cross-pollination. Those who use insects as pollinators tend to have brightly colored flowers and an attractive aroma. Those that are pollinated by the wind have long stamens and pistils with small petals or without petals.

Plants that use self-pollination, such as peanuts, tend to have smaller flowers. Some plants that cross-pollinate are also capable of self-pollination if cross-pollination is unsuccessful. These include peas, orchids, and sunflowers.

Examples

Examples of plants that use insects for cross-pollination include apples, plums, pears, raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, green beans, pumpkins, daffodils, tulips, heather, lavender, and most flowering plants.

Examples of plants that use wind for cross-pollination include herbs, catkins, dandelions, maples, and goat beards.

Examples of self-polluting plants include wheat, barley, oats, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, apricots, and peaches. Many plants that are able to self-pollinate can also cross-pollinate.

Advantages and disadvantages

Cross-pollination is advantageous because it allows diversity in the species since the genetic information of different plants is combined. However, it depends on the existence of pollinators that will travel from one plant to another.

Self-pollination leads to a more uniform progeny, which means that the species is, for example, less generally resistant to disease. However, it does not need to waste energy to attract pollinators and can spread beyond areas where suitable pollinators can be found.

Key difference

The process of pollen grains that fall from the plant that falls from the anther to the stigma of the plant is known as pollination. This process of fusion of male and female sex in plants leads to the fertilization process, through which new flowers are formed and reproduction occurs. As a result of fertilization in plants (the fusion of male and female gametes), a zygote is formed. The fertilization process begins when the pollen grain falls on the stigma of the plant. The pollination that leads to the fertilization process is mainly of two types; self-pollination and cross-pollination. Self-pollination is the transfer of pollen to the stigma of the same flower,

What is self-pollination?

Self-pollination is the process in which the transfer of pollen from the same plant to the stigma of a similar plant takes place. This type of pollination is considered responsible for the uniform progeny in plants and also produces pure lines without variations. Since the anther pollen (male part of the plant) has to fall on the stigma surface of a similar plant, it does not require any external agent or external effort, they throw the pollen on its stigma surface.

This pollination process can even occur in the case of the closed flower of the plants, and the plant that performs the fertilization through this process becomes homozygous.

In some cases, plants have the ability to do both; cross-pollination and self-pollination. If the cross-pollination process continues unsuccessfully in plants such as peas, orchids, and sunflowers, they are able to self-pollinate.

However, plants produced by self-pollination retain highly useful characters, at the same time, it lacks variability and has less adaptability in changing environments. Plants that use self-pollination have opaque flowers compared to flowers of plants that cross-pollinate.

What is cross-pollination?

Cross-pollination is the process by which the transfer of pollen to the stigma of a flower of a different plant of the same species or of different species takes place.

This type of pollination is a complex process, which leads to the formation of a new variety of brightly colored plants and flowers with an attractive aroma. In addition to the attractive features, they show better adaptability in modified environments, and that is why most plants prefer the cross-pollination process. Two main sources of cross-pollination are wind or insects.

Since they have colorful, attractive flowers, insects or flies, the pollen adheres to the body and transfers it to the stigma of the other plant. The other source of cross-pollination is by wind, The strong wind carries the light pollen and adjusts it to the stigma of the other plant.

Plants that carry the wind pollination process generally have long stamens and pistils with small petals; Dandelions are the example of such pollination. As mentioned earlier, through the cross-pollination process new varieties of plants with different characteristics than their parents are produced.