>>11206901No. Apples reproduce sexually by seed. The ovaries of the plant have gametes that go through a shuffling of Chromosomes as they are prepared for future reproduction in meiosis and gametogenesis. Each gamete from the ovary has only one set of parental chromosomes. There are many variations of the chromosomal shuffle during meiosis so genetic variety is added. In addition, while homologous chromosomes are lining up or lined up during one phase of meiotic division, pieces of chromosomes can be swapped from one of the pairs to the other. The level of “crossing over” add even more genetic variation—and this is just to the female gametes from the ovaries. The same thing is happening to the gametes in the strucures that make the male gametes—the pollen.
By the time all this shuffling is done, even self-pollinated plants can still have a fair measure of genetic variability.
Each seed in an apple is a separate fertilization event and, so, is a different genetic combination. This high degree of variability is one of the very things that makes it possible to have so many different varieties of apples and has allowed apples to adapt to a tremendous range of growing conditions around the world.
