Question 1

Corn smut is a fungus that grows in the ears of corn and changes corn kernels into black, powdery balls of fungus tissue. What would you hypothesize is the significance of the relationship between corn smut and corn?

Accepted Answer

Corn smut is a parasitic fungus that infects corn, using the plant's resources to grow and reproduce, ultimately spreading its spores.

Question 2

Suppose that, while on a forest hike, you notice a blue fungus and a pink plant growing along the hiking trail. As you continue walking, you observe that if a blue fungus and a pink plant are growing side by side, they are both much larger than if the fungus and the plant are farther apart. What can you hypothesize about the relationship between the fungus and the plant?

Accepted Answer

The observation suggests a symbiotic relationship, where both organisms benefit from each other's presence, leading to enhanced growth when they are close together.

Question 3

A major function of a mushroom is to ________.

Accepted Answer

Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi and their primary function is to produce and disperse spores for reproduction.

Question 4

The figure shows results of a study where pine trees were treated with fungal mycorrhize to determine if the fungal mycorrhize would affect the growth of the pine trees. What time range showed the greatest change in mean height in feet?

Accepted Answer

The answer of  The figure shows results of a...

Question 5

What is this organism?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is this organism? 
...

Question 6

Scenario People utilize plants to meet many everyday needs, including food, fiber, and building materials. However, not many of the over 300,000 known species of plants are used by people. One species with a lot of future promise is the jatropha tree. This species is native to Central America and is now found throughout the tropics. Many people believe the jatropha could help alleviate poverty in many areas of the world, as the seeds produce an oil that can be used for cooking, lighting, or generating electricity. This oil can also be mixed with diesel fuel or petrol to produce a biofuel. Mature trees produce between 5 and 15 kg of seeds per year and can live more than 30 years. -What is a possible disadvantage of using jatropha seeds to produce oil?

Accepted Answer

Growing jatropha trees for oil production could compete with land needed for food production, potentially lowering food availability.

Question 7

This diagram shows what process?

Accepted Answer

The answer of This diagram shows what process? 
...

Question 8

Evolutionary evidence suggests fungi evolved from ________ that also gave rise to the fourth and most diverse group of eukaryotes: the animals.

Accepted Answer

Fungi and animals are both thought to have evolved from a common ancestor that was a type of protist, making protists the correct choice.

Question 9

What important role do fungi play in many ecosystems?

Accepted Answer

Fungi are decomposers that break down dead organic material, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Question 10

How is artificial selection related to diversity of plant foods we eat today?

Accepted Answer

Artificial selection in agriculture allows humans to selectively breed plants for desirable traits such as improved yield, taste, and resistance to pests, leading to a diverse array of plant foods.

Question 11

In a laboratory experiment, researchers treated pine seedlings from Puerto Rico with mycorrhizae collected from pine forests in the southeastern United States. Results were favorable for increased seedling growth in the trees treated with mycorrhizae. Suppose when the researchers then tried this same experiment in the field, pine tree seedlings treated with mycorrhizae showed minimal growth differences from the control group. All but one of the listed factors could have contributed to these results. Choose the exception.

Accepted Answer

Mycorrhizae function by forming a symbiotic relationship with plant roots, so they would not function separately from the plant roots in either the lab or field.

Question 12

If seed production had never evolved, which organisms would be missing in today's landscape?

Accepted Answer

The answer of If seed production had never evolved, which...

Question 13

Scenario People utilize plants to meet many everyday needs, including food, fiber, and building materials. However, not many of the over 300,000 known species of plants are used by people. One species with a lot of future promise is the jatropha tree. This species is native to Central America and is now found throughout the tropics. Many people believe the jatropha could help alleviate poverty in many areas of the world, as the seeds produce an oil that can be used for cooking, lighting, or generating electricity. This oil can also be mixed with diesel fuel or petrol to produce a biofuel. Mature trees produce between 5 and 15 kg of seeds per year and can live more than 30 years. -Suppose a weather catastrophe occurred such that the bird pollinators of the jatropha tree were significantly diminished. Which form of dispersal might jatropha trees need for a chance to continue producing flowers and seeds?

Accepted Answer

Wind dispersal is a common method of pollination for plants that have small, lightweight seeds. Jatropha seeds are small and light, so they could be easily dispersed by the wind.

Question 14

Like plants, fungi have ________; however, in plants they are composed of ________, whereas in fungi they are composed of ________.

Accepted Answer

Fungi and plants both have cell walls. In plants, cell walls are composed of cellulose, while in fungi, they are composed of chitin.

Question 15

The figure shows results of a study where pine trees were treated with fungal mycorrhize to determine if the mycorrhize would affect the growth of the trees. Over the four-year study, only 36% of the control trees survived, while 85% of the pines treated with mycorrhizae survived. If the study was extended for another two years to the year 1961, what would you predict would occur with the control data and mean height of the pine trees?

Accepted Answer