What is Hybridization?
When a plant or animal is
bred with a plant or animal from different stock, the process is known
as hybridization. There are numerous reasons to create hybrids,
including increasing genetic diversity and breeding for specific traits.
It is frequently practiced in agriculture, to make stronger, healthier
plants with desirable characteristics. Animal breeders also use the
process to create new breeds or to try to breed out unwanted traits,
such as hip dyspepsia in some purebred dogs.
The
most common type of hybridization involves crossing two organisms of
different breeds within the same species. This is also called
crossbreeding. In agriculture, it is used to create healthier crops or
new flavors, such as the tangelo, a cross between a tangerine and a pomelo.
In agriculture, it is vitally important to maintain genetic diversity,
and by extension the health and longevity of a crop. Many large
agricultural companies engage in mono cropping, planting only one strain
of one crop, which is very harmful for diversity and for the plant.
Should the crop be susceptible to a particular fungus or insect, the
whole field will be lost. Hybridized crops, on the other hand, tend to
be more resistant to disease and infestation.
In animal breeding,
hybridization is used to create new breeds or to make a breed stronger.
Many purebred animals are also inbred, due to a limited genetic pool,
which tends to bring out genetic defects in animals. By hybridizing,
breeders bring fresh genes into the mix, although the resulting animal
is not a purebred. Depending on the rules of the stud book for the
breed, this may or may not matter. In some cases, a crossbred animal can
be bred to purebreds to bring the next generation more in alignment
with the breed standard, and the mixed breed animals will be accepted
into the studbook.
In another variation, two
animals of different species within the same genus are bred to each
other. This is not always possible, and when it can be achieved, the
resulting animal or crop is often sterile. Most animals hybridized in
this way, such as mules and zorses, a horse/zebra
cross, cannot reproduce naturally. Plant hybrids, on the other hand,
are usually perfectly capable of breeding. This will increase the
overall genetic health of the plant population, and in some cases will
bring out a desired trait, such as seedlessness.
Hybridization also occurs
in nature, and it can bring out favorable traits from two different gene
pools. It allows animals to adapt to changing environments, and if the
hybrids thrive, a new species may emerge
.
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