ABSTRACT
Modern biology is firmly based on C. Darwin's theory of evolution by means of natural selection. The theory of process of living allows for interpretations of apomixis other than the theories based on maximization of genetic representation, but a reformation of the fitness concept is also required. Asexual reproduction is therefore sometimes regarded as the production of generalists. From genetical and biochemical experiments, it seems clear that recombination processes play an important role in keeping the DNA free from mutations and lesions. The ecological properties of modular and clonal plants and the possibility of subsexual genetic variation, necessitate and extension of traditional models of selection. The models describing the benefits and handicaps of sexual reproduction do not take phenotypic plasticity or subsexual genetic variation into account. Early attempts to explain sexual reproduction based on Mendelian theories concentrated on the effects of sexual reproduction on the population structure.
