Reproduction is the biological process where new individual organisms are brought into existence by their respective parents. Reproduction is divided into sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction.
Sexual reproduction is the fusion of female gamete and male gamete to form a zygote which develops into offspring. Asexual reproduction does not involve the fusion of gametes but the offspring is a clone of the parent organisms.
Reproduction can result in the formation of a hybrid and purebred. These two biological terms tend to confuse a lot of students in their biological science revision.
So, what is the main difference between hybrid and purebred? The hybrid organism is the offspring of two heterozygous parents while the purebred organism is the offspring of two homozygous parents.
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Comparison Table between Hybrid and Purebred (In Tabular Form):
| Basic Terms | Hybrid | Purebred |
| Meaning | It is an offspring of two heterozygous parents. | It is the offspring of two homozygous parents. |
| Phenotype | Offspring have different phenotypic traits from the parents. | Offspring have the same phenotypic traits as the parents. |
| Genotype | Offspring have different genes from their parents. | Offspring have similar genes as the parents. |
| Significance | Improve and make consistent fascinating characteristics. | Keep and maintain the existing characteristics. |
| Occurrences | Intra-specific and inter-specific | Only intra-specific |
| Examples | Mule (donkey and horse) | Kitten whose parents are all Siamese. |
What Is a Hybrid?
A hybrid is an offspring whose parentage comes from different species. This implies that the phenotype of the offspring is quite different from that of the parents.
The hybrid offspring will portray the phenotypic features of both parents. This happens so since the offspring obtain one gene from the mother and the other gene from the father.
The importance of encouraging selective breeding is to improve and create consistent fascinating characteristics. The hybrid offspring tend to show strong traits than their parents.
The occurrence of hybrid offspring can be a result of intra-specific, inter-generic, interfamilial, and acquainted hybrids.
Examples of the hybrid are liger (lion and tiger), mule (donkey and horse), and cama (male camel and female Llama).
What Is a Purebred?
A purebred is an offspring whose parentage comes from the same species. This indicates that the offspring has a similar phenotype to that of the parents.
The genes of the offspring originate from one gene of species. The offspring is said to be true-breeding. The offspring show characteristics that are consistent, replicable, and foreseeable.
The undesirable traits of the offspring are a result of conjugation. The offspring are at the risk of getting heritable health problems.
The main aim of purebred is to help maintain the existing features of a certain species of organisms. It occurs among organisms of the same species only.
An example of a purebred is when a Siamese kitten is born from parents who are both Siamese cat breeds.
Main Differences between Hybrid and Purebred in Point Form
- Hybrid is an offspring from two heterozygous parents while purebred is an organism from two homozygous parents
- Hybrid have different phenotypic traits from that of the parents while purebred have similar phenotypic traits like that of the parents
- Hybrid have different genotypic traits from that of the parents while purebred have a similar genotypic trait like that of the parent
- Hybrid is meant to improve and formulate consistent fascinating characteristics that are superior to the parents while purebred is to maintain the existing characteristics of the parents.
- Hybrid can obtain through inter-specific and intra-specific while purebred from the same species only.
- Examples of the hybrid are mules and ligers while the purebred example is the Siamese kitten born from both parents that belong to the Siamese cat breed.
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Similarities between Hybrid and Purebred
- Both occur as a result of breeding
- Both offspring obtain genes from each parent
- Both are applicable in agricultural fields
Hybrid vs Purebred: Comparison Video
Conclusion
A purebred organism occurs as a result of a combination of single species while a hybrid organism occurs as a result of two or more things. Hybrid bring offspring that are more superior to the parents in terms of resistance to diseases and other things unlike purebred. Many agricultural fields tend to prefer hybrids over purebreds.
More References and Sources
- Suzuki T and Godke RA: Comparison of Hybrid and Purebred. US National Library of Medicine
- Editor: What Is Pure Trait and a Hybrid Trait? Molecular Genetics.