Question 1

A small part of a plant taken for tissue culture is called a(n):

Accepted Answer

explant. An explant is the piece of tissue used to start a tissue culture.

Question 2

Producing a large number of plants quickly from small tissues by tissue culture is called:

Accepted Answer

micropropagation. Micropropagation rapidly multiplies plants from tiny explants.

Question 3

One major advantage of tissue culture is the production of:

Accepted Answer

disease-free plants. Tissue culture can produce healthy, disease-free planting material.

Question 4

Compared with growing plants from seeds, tissue culture allows:

Accepted Answer

rapid multiplication of many identical plants in a small space. Tissue culture rapidly yields many uniform, high-quality plants in limited space and time.

Question 5

HYV seeds used in modern agriculture stand for:

Accepted Answer

High-Yielding Variety seeds. HYV = High-Yielding Variety — seeds bred to give a larger yield.

Question 6

A water-saving irrigation method that delivers water drop by drop to plant roots is:

Accepted Answer

drip irrigation. Drip irrigation supplies water directly to the roots, minimising wastage.

Question 7

Growing different crops on the same field in a planned sequence to maintain soil fertility is called:

Accepted Answer

crop rotation. Crop rotation alternates crops (e.g. cereals and legumes) to keep the soil fertile.

Question 8

Medicines that are produced from microorganisms and used to treat bacterial diseases are called:

Accepted Answer

antibiotics. Antibiotics (e.g. penicillin) are made from microbes and kill or stop bacteria.

Question 9

Food is preserved by methods like refrigeration and salting mainly to:

Accepted Answer

slow down or stop the growth of microorganisms. Preservation prevents microbial growth that would otherwise spoil the food.

Question 10

The mould Penicillium is important because it produces the antibiotic:

Accepted Answer

penicillin. Penicillium yields penicillin, the first widely used antibiotic.

Question 11

A preparation that gives the body immunity against a particular disease is a:

Accepted Answer

vaccine. A vaccine trains the immune system to protect against a specific disease.

Question 12

Antibiotics are effective against ______ but NOT against ______:

Accepted Answer

bacteria; viruses. Antibiotics work on bacteria; they do not kill viruses, so they cannot cure viral diseases like the common cold.

Question 13

Which of the following is caused by a virus?

Accepted Answer

AIDS. AIDS is caused by the HIV virus; the others are bacterial diseases.

Question 14

Giving vaccines to children to protect them from diseases is called:

Accepted Answer

immunisation (vaccination). Immunisation uses vaccines to build immunity and prevent diseases such as polio and measles.

Question 15

Tissue culture is a technique of growing cells, tissues or organs in a(n):

Accepted Answer

artificial nutrient medium under sterile conditions. Tissue culture grows plant/animal cells in a sterile nutrient medium in the laboratory.

Question 16

The plants produced by tissue culture from a single parent are:

Accepted Answer

genetically identical (clones). Tissue-cultured plants are clones — genetically identical to the parent.

Question 17

Tissue culture must be carried out under sterile (aseptic) conditions to:

Accepted Answer

prevent contamination by microbes. Sterile conditions stop bacteria and fungi from spoiling the culture.

Question 18

Tissue culture is widely used commercially to grow plants such as:

Accepted Answer

orchids and bananas. Ornamental and commercial plants like orchids and bananas are mass-produced by tissue culture.

Question 19

The dramatic increase in food-grain production in India through high-yielding varieties is called the:

Accepted Answer

Green Revolution. The Green Revolution greatly increased crop yields using HYV seeds, fertilizers and irrigation.

Question 20

Bt cotton, which resists certain insect pests, is an example of a:

Accepted Answer

genetically modified (GM) crop. Bt cotton is genetically modified to produce a protein toxic to specific pests.

Biotechnology & Applied Biology — Homi Bhabha Exam Biology MCQs with Solutions

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