Tag: different modes of nutrition in plants

Questions Related to different modes of nutrition in plants

You are part of a scientific expendition that has ventured deep into the Amazon rain forest. You spot a tree with branches spread over a large area. What can you conclude about the root structure of the tree?

  1. It is dicotyledonous

  2. It is monocotyledonous

  3. It may be either monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous

  4. There is no correlation between foliage and root structure


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

For the canopy to spread over a large area the root system also has to be robust so as to provide enough nutrients and anchorage. Wide spreading and deep roots are tap root systems that are characteristic to dicotyledonous plants.

So, the  correct answer is 'It is dicotyledonous'

A successful parasite is the one which

  1. Grows rapidly.

  2. Reproduces fast.

  3. Sticks to host for long.

  4. Keeps its host alive.


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

A parasite depends on its host to stay alive. Killing the host before the reproduction destroys parasite also as it needs host to produce its progeny generation after generation. This makes option D correct. In order to keep the host alive to produce many generations of parasite offspring, it is necessary for a parasite to become less virulent or gentle over many generations. This makes option A incorrect. Fast reproduction produces increase the number of parasite offspring but poses extra burden on host and makes the host survival harder. This makes option B incorrect. Similarly, sticking too long to a host decreases its survival chances and hence, parasite keeps switching the host over time. Option C is incorrect. Thus, the correct answer is option D.

Cuscuta is a

  1. Total stem parasite

  2. Partial stem parasite

  3. Epiphyte

  4. Total root parasite


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Cuscuta (Dodder) plant is an obligate or total stem parasite. It lacks chlorophyll and has no connection with the soil after the seeding stage. Therefore it is totally dependent on the host for organic food materials and supply of water and minerals salts. The parasitic plant pierces the stem and sucks the nutrients from the host plant.

Thus, the correct answer is option A. 

'Venus Flower Basket' is the name of the dried skeleton of

  1. Euspongia

  2. Spongilla

  3. Euplectella

  4. None of the above


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The Venus flower basket, or Euplectella aspergillum is a hexactinellid sponge in the phylum Porifera inhabiting the deep ocean. In traditional Asian cultures, this particular sponge (in a dead, dry state) was given as a wedding gift because the sponge symbiotically houses two small shrimp, a male and a female, who live out their lives inside the sponge. They breed, and when their offspring are tiny, the offspring escape to find a Venus flower basket of their own. The shrimp inside the basket clean it and, in return, the basket provides food for the shrimp by trapping it in its tissues and then releasing wastes into the body of the sponge for the shrimp. It is also speculated that the bioluminescent light of bacteria harnessed by the sponge may attract other small organisms which the shrimp eat. 

Find the incorrect statement.
(A) Nepenthus, Drosera and Dionea are the insectivorous plants.
(B) Cuscuta, Loranthus and santalum are root parasites.
(C) Rafflesia is a saprophytic angiosperm.
(D) Mangrove plants are seen in saline marshy lands. 

  1. B and C

  2. A and D

  3. A and C

  4. B and D


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants. It contains approximately 28 species, all found in southeastern Asia, in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. It is not a saprophytic angiosperm. Cuscuta, Loranthus and santalum are stem parasites. Nepenthes, Drosera and Dionaea are the insectivorous plants. Mangrove plants are seen in saline marshy lands. 

So, the correct answer is option A.

A mutant micro-organism unable to synthesize a compound required for its growth, but able to grow if the compound is provided, is known as

  1. Auxotroph

  2. Prototroph

  3. Autotroph

  4. None of these


Correct Option: A
Explanation:
An auxotroph is a mutant microorganism that requires some nutrient that is not normally required by the organism (prototroph) from which the mutant was derived. 
A microorganism that has the ability to synthesize all of its amino acids, nucleic acids, vitamins, and other cellular constituents from inorganic nutrients is known as prototroph.  
Autotrophs are those organisms that are able to make energy-containing organic molecules from inorganic raw material by using basic energy sources such as sunlight. 
Thus, the correct answer is option A.

The enzyme commonly presents in insectivorous plants to fulfil the need of their specific habit

  1. Trypsin

  2. Pepsin

  3. Pectinase

  4. Cellulase


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

  • Trypsin is working as a digestive enzyme to break down proteins in the small intestine.
  • Some plants eat insects. Such plants are called insectivorous plants. They trap and digest insects. The insect is then digested by the enzyme pepsin secreted by the cells of the plants. Example -The protease secreted in the pitcher fluid is pepsin-like.
  • Pectinase is the enzyme that breaks down pectin and polysaccharides found in plant cell walls.
  • Cellulase is the enzyme that converts cellulose into glucose or a disaccharide.

So option B is correct.

Carnivorous plants feed on

  1. Small worms and insects.

  2. Rats and mice.

  3. Birds.

  4. All animals including humans.


Correct Option: A

A man eater plant is

  1. Nepenthes

  2. Aldovanda

  3. Pinguicula

  4. None of the above


Correct Option: A

A carnivorous plant similar to Utricularia in being rootless, aquatic, and resembling Venus Fly Trap in catching mechanism is

  1. Aldrovanda

  2. Pinguicula

  3. Drosera

  4. Sarracenia


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Aldrovanda is an insectivorous plant as it feeds on insects. Aldrovanda vesiculosa, commonly known as the waterwheel plant, captures small aquatic invertebrates using traps similar to those of the Venus flytrap. The traps are arranged in whorls around a central, free-floating stem.

So, the correct answer is 'Aldrovanda'.