Selfing

Selfing or self-fertilization is the union of male and female gametes and/or nuclei from same haploid, diploid, or polyploid organism. It is an extreme degree of inbreeding. Selfing or self-fertilization is the union of male and female gametes and/or nuclei from same haploid, diploid, or polyploid organism. It is an extreme degree of inbreeding. Selfing is widespread – from unicellular organisms to the most complex hermaphroditic plants and animals (especially invertebrates). In unicellular organisms such as Protozoa, selfing can occur when two individuals (or their cell nuclei) interbreed that were produced from a previous mitotic division of the same individual. About 10-15% of flowering plants are predominantly selfing.