A hybrid crop plant with the genotype AaBb produces seeds through apomixis. If the apomictic mechanism involves the formation of an egg cell without reduction division followed by its direct development into an embryo without fertilisation, what will be the ploidy and genotype of the cells of this embryo?

Step-by-step solution

In the given apomictic mechanism, the egg cell is formed without reduction division (meiosis). Therefore, it retains the exact ploidy and genetic constitution of the parent plant's somatic cells. The parent plant is a diploid hybrid with the heterozygous genotype AaBb . Consequently, the unreduced egg cell will also be diploid ( 2n ) and possess the identical genotype AaBb . Since apomixis involves the direct development of this egg into an embryo without fertilisation (syngamy), the resulting embryo will be a gene