01 Plant Structure, Growth, and Development

Question 1

The most recent common ancestor of all land plants was probably similar to modern-day members of which group?
A) green algae
B) red algae
C) charophytes
D) brown algae
E) angiosperms

Answer 1

C) charophytes

Question 2

A number of characteristics are very similar between charophytes (algae) and members of the kingdom Plantae. Of the following, which characteristic does not provide evidence for a close evolutionary relationship between these two groups?

A) alternation of generations
B) chloroplast structure
C) cell plate formation during cytokinesis
D) sperm cell structure
E) ribosomal RNA nucleotide sequences

Answer 2

A) alternation of generations

Question 3

On a field trip, a student in a marine biology class collects an organism that has differentiated organs, cell walls of cellulose, and chloroplasts with chlorophyll a. Based on this description, the organism could be a brown alga, a red alga, a green alga, a charophyte recently washed into the ocean from a freshwater or brackish water source, or a land plant washed into the ocean. The presence of which of the following features would definitively identify this organism as a land plant?

A) alternation of generations
B) sporopollenin
C) rosette cellulose-synthesizing complexes
D) flagellated sperm
E) embryos

Answer 3

E) embryos

Question 4

Some green algae exhibit alternation of generations. All land plants exhibit alternation of generations. No charophytes exhibit alternation of generations. Keeping in mind the recent evidence from molecular systematics, the correct interpretation of these observations is that

A) charophytes are not related to either green algae or land plants.
B) plants evolved alternation of generations independently of green algae.
C) alternation of generations cannot be beneficial to charophytes.
D) land plants evolved directly from the green algae that perform alternation of generations.
E) scientists have no evidence to indicate whether or not land plants evolved from any kind of alga.

Answer 4

B) plants evolved alternation of generations independently of green algae.

Question 5

Which of the following characteristics, if observed in an unidentified green organism, would make it unlikely to be a charophyte?

A) phragmoplast
B) peroxisome
C) apical meristem
D) chlorophylls a and b
E) rosette cellulose-synthesizing complex

Answer 5

C) apical meristem

Question 6

The sporophytes of mosses depend on the gametophytes for water and nutrition. In seed plants, the reverse is true. From which seed plant sporophyte structure(s) do the immature(unfertilized) gametophytes directly gain water and nutrition?

A) sporophylls
B) embryos
C) sporangia
D) sporopollenin
E) ovary

Answer 6

C) sporangia

Question 7

The result of heterospory is

A) the existence of male and female sporophytes.
B) the existence of male and female gametophytes.
C) the absence of sexuality from both plant generations.
D) both (A) and (B) above.

Answer 7

B) the existence of male and female gametophytes.

Question 8

Plants with a dominant sporophyte are successful on land partly because
A) having no stomata, they lose less water.
B) they all disperse by means of seeds.
C) diploid plants experience fewer mutations than do haploid plants.
D) their gametophytes are completely enclosed within sporophyte tissue.
E) eggs and sperm need not be produced.

Answer 8

D) their gametophytes are completely enclosed within sporophyte tissue.

Question 9

The seed coatʹs most important function is to provide

A) a nonstressful environment for the megasporangium.
B) the means for dispersal.
C) dormancy.
D) a nutrient supply for the embryo.
E) desiccation resistance.

Answer 9

E) desiccation resistance.

Question 10

You are studying a plant from the arid southwestern United States. Which of the following adaptations is least likely to have evolved in response to water shortages?

A) closing the stomata during the hottest time of the day
B) development of large leaf surfaces to absorb water
C) formation of a fibrous root system spread over a large area
D) mycorrhizae associated with the root system
E) a thick waxy cuticle on the epidermis

Answer 10

B) development of large leaf surfaces to absorb water

Question 11

Which structure is incorrectly paired with its tissue system?

A) root hair/ dermal tissue
B) palisade parenchyma/ ground tissue
C) guard cell/ dermal tissue
D) companion cell/ ground tissue
E) tracheid/ vascular tissue

Answer 11

D) companion cell/ ground tissue

Question 12

All of the following are plant adaptations to life on land except

A) tracheids and vessels.
B) root hairs.
C) cuticle.
D) the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis.
E) collenchyma.

Answer 12

D) the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis.

Question 13

Which part of a plant absorbs most of the water and minerals taken up from the soil?

A) taproots
B) root hairs
C) the thick parts of the roots near the base of the stem
D) storage roots
E) sections of the root that have secondary xylem

Answer 13

B) root hairs

Question 14

What would be a plant adaptation that increases exposure of a plant to light in a dense forest?

A) closing of the stomata
B) lateral buds
C) apical dominance
D) absence of petioles
E) intercalary meristems

Answer 14

C) apical dominance

Question 15

The ancestors of land plants were aquatic algae. Which of the following is not an evolutionary adaptation to life on land?

A) C3 photosynthesis
B) a waxy cuticle
C) root hairs
D) xylem and phloem
E) guard cells

Answer 15

A) C3 photosynthesis

Question 16

A fellow student brought in a leaf to be examined. The leaf was dark green, thin, had stoma on the lower surface only, and had a surface area of 100 square meters. Where is the most likely environment where this leaf was growing?

A) a dry, sandy region
B) a large, still pond
C) a tropical rain forest
D) an oasis within a grassland
E) the floor of a deciduous forest

Answer 16

C) a tropical rain forest

Question 17

Which of the following would be least likely to affect osmosis in plants?

A) proton pumps in the membrane
B) a difference in solute concentrations
C) receptor proteins in the membrane
D) aquaporins
E) a difference in water potential

Answer 17

C) receptor proteins in the membrane

Question 18

Which of the following statements about xylem is incorrect?

A) It conducts material upward.
B) It conducts materials within dead cells.
C) It transports mainly sugars and amino acids.
D) It has a lower water potential than soil does.
E) No energy input from the plant is required for xylem transport.

Answer 18

C) It transports mainly sugars and amino acids.

Question 19

One of the following is NOT a key trait of ground plants

A) Haploid gametophyte = eggs and sperm => diploid zygote
B) Mitosis of zygote => diploid sporophyte
C) Meiosis in sporophytes = diploid spores
D) Mitosis of spore = multicellular gametophyte

Answer 19

C) Meiosis in sporophytes = diploid spores

Question 20

Seeds differ from spores, in that

A) A seed is a sporophyte embryo, along with its food supply, packaged in a protective coat
B) A spore is a sporophyte embryo, along with its food supply, packaged in a protective coat
C) Seeds are multicellular, longer lifetime than spores
D) Both A and C are correct

Answer 20

D) Both A and C are correct

Question 21

Regarding the Three Basic Plant Organs: Roots, Stems, and Leaves, one of the following is incorrect

A) Roots rely on sugar produced by photosynthesis in the shoot system.
B) Shoots rely on water and minerals absorbed by the leaves
C) Shoots rely on water and minerals absorbed by the root system
D) Absorption of water and minerals occurs near the root hairs, where vast numbers of tiny root hairs increase the surface area

Answer 21

B) Shoots rely on water and minerals absorbed by the leaves

Question 22

One of the following is not a common function of roots

A) Anchoring the plant
B) Absorbing minerals and water
C) Storing carbohydrates
D) photosynthesis

Answer 22

D) photosynthesis

Question 23

One of the following is not a part of the plant’s shoot system

Roots
Buds
Stems
Leaves

Answer 23

Roots

Question 24

At the vascular tissue system of a plant, one of the following is responsible for conveying water and dissolved minerals upward from roots into the shoots

Phloem
Petiole
Xylem
A and B

Answer 24

Xylem

Question 25

In plant tissue, which one of the following correctly matches the tissue description with its function

A) Parenchyma: thin and flexible cell wall- most metabolic functions (photosynthesis)
B) Collenchyma: flexible support without restraining growth- help support young parts of the plant shoot
C) Sclerenchyma: rigid and thick cell wall strengthened with lignin- main structure of plant -dead at functional maturity
D) All of the above

Answer 25

D) All of the above

Question 26

Which of the following is true about the plant’s endoderm?

A) The endodermis is the innermost layer of cells in the root cortex
B) It surrounds the vascular cylinder and is the last checkpoint for selective passage of minerals from the vascular tissue into the cortex
C) The endodermis regulates and transports needed minerals from the soil into the xylem
D) A and C are correct

Answer 26

D) A and C are correct

Question 27

Approximately, how much of the total water loss from plants through stomata

95%
75%
50%
25%

Answer 27

95%

Question 28

We know from the experiments of the past that plants bend toward light because

A) they need sunlight energy for photosynthesis.
B) the sun stimulates stem growth.
C) cell expansion is greater on the dark side of the stem.
D) auxin is inactive on the dark side of the stem.
E) phytochrome stimulates florigen production.

Answer 28

C) cell expansion is greater on the dark side of the stem.

Question 29

The ripening of fruit and the dropping of leaves and fruit are principally controlled by

A) auxins
B) cytokinins
C) indole acetic acid
D) ethylene
E) carbon dioxide concentration (in air)

Answer 29

D) ethylene

Question 30

Which one of the following is not a direct function of either auxin or gibberellin?

A) inducing semescence and ripening
B) producing apical dominance
C) producing positive geotropism of shoots
D) stimulating cell elongation
E) breaking dormancy in seeds

Answer 30

A) inducing semescence and ripening

Question 31

Which of the following statements about plant hormones is false?

A) The growth of plants in nature is probably regulated by a combination of growth-stimulating and growth-inhibiting hormones.
B) Abscisic acid generally promotes growth.
C) Gibberellins stimulate cell enlargement.
D) Cytokinins promote cell division.
E) Ethylene contributes to the aging of plants.

Answer 31

B) Abscisic acid generally promotes growth.