Tag: biodiversity and conservation

A genomic library is a collection of the total genomic DNA from a single organism. The DNA is stored in a population of identical vectors, each containing a different insert of DNA

Gene banks are a type of biorepository, which preserve genetic material. For plants, this could be by freezing cuttings from the plant, or stocking the seeds (e.g., in a seed bank). For animals, this is the freezing of sperm and eggs in zoological freezers until further need. With corals, fragments are taken which are stored in water tanks under controlled conditions.
Plant genetic material in a 'gene bank' is preserved at $-196^0$C in liquid nitrogen as mature seed (dry).

A biosphere reserve is an ecosystem with plants and animals of unusual scientific and natural interest. It is a title given by UNESCO to help protect the sites. The plan is to promote management, research and education in ecosystem conservation. This includes the 'sustainable use of natural resources'. 
In situ conservation is on-site conservation or the conservation of genetic resources in natural populations of plant or animal species, such as forest genetic resources in natural populations of tree species.

Genetic erosion is a process whereby an already limited gene pool of an endangered species of plant or animal diminishes even more, when individuals from the surviving population die off without getting a chance to meet and breed with others in their endangered low population. 

Germplasm is a term used to describe living genetic resources, such as seeds or tissue, maintained for the purpose of breeding, preservation, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of seed collections stored in seed banks, trees growing in nurseries, animal breeding lines maintained in animal breeding programs or gene banks, etc. Germplasm collections can range from collections of wild species to elite, domesticated breeding lines that have undergone extensive human selection.

Genetic diversity refers to the variety of genes within a species. Each species is made up of individuals that have their own particular genetic composition. Within a species there may also be discrete populations with distinctive genes. Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook was the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or "cladogenesis," as opposed to "anagenesis" or "phyletic evolution" occurring within lineages.
More diversity will be introduced to gene pool when speciation occurs; as a result of which more and more species will be produced.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens will transfer genes (T-DNA region of Ti plasmid) into the plant that produces its food or nutrient called opines (opines are not needed for plants). Apart from that, it also integrates genes for cell division and proliferation leading to crown gall disease, so that more number of cells result in more production of opines. Because of this reason it is called as a 'natural genetic engineer'.

A staple food, sometimes simply referred to as a staple, is a food that is eaten routinely, and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet in a given population, supplying a large fraction of the needs for energy-rich materials and generally a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. Most people live on a diet based on just a small number of staples.
Staple foods vary from place to place, but typically they are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of the three organic macronutrients needed for survival and health: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
Wheat (Triticum spp.) is a cereal grain, originally from the levant region of the Near East but now cultivated worldwide. In 2013, world production of wheat was 713 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize (1,016 million tons) and rice (745 million tons). 

Genetic diversity refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of the species. Genetic diversity serves as a way for populations to adapt to changing environments.
In order to capture the maximum genetic diversity of a species, recent, old, wild - all kind of varieties will be considered and taken into account and searched.
Thus, the correct answer is option (D),  'All of the above'.

Extinction of a particular animal or plant species occurs when there are no more individuals of that species alive anywhere in the world - the species has died out. When it does not exist at all , preserving it also not possible.