plant biotechnology

Question 1

what are the different ways new beneficial traits can be introduced to plants

Answer 1

1) embryo transfer
2) organ culture
3) callus culture
4) cell culture

Question 2

define totipotency

Answer 2

a differentiated plant cell which retains genetic information required to generate a whole new organism

Question 3

what is needed for a plant tissue growth medium

Answer 3

1) solid medium = agar
2) a carbon source
3) macronutrients
4) micronutrients
5) vitamins and cofactors
6) hormones such as auxin

Question 4

what is micropropagation by meristem culture

Answer 4

a method of plant propagation using small pieces of plant tissue taken from a prepared mother plants meristem

Question 5

what is a plant protoplast

Answer 5

formed when plant cells are treated with cell wall dissolving cellulases which forms plant cells lacking in cell walls

Question 6

how can protoplast be used in plant biotechnology

Answer 6

protoplasts can be fused together to generate hybrid species with increased vigour as it spreads desirable traits

Question 7

what is a cell suspension culture

Answer 7

a type of cell culture where single cells are allowed to function and multiply in a then agitated growth medium causing cells to seperate forming a sub culture of cells

Question 8

give some examples of model plants used in plant molecular biology and genetics

Answer 8

1) arabadopsis
2) rice

Question 9

what is arabidopsis

Answer 9

a small weedy member of the vrassicaceae with a small genome and is very easy to germinate with short periods between seedlings to fruit (6 weeks)
- it is very fertile and has lots of mutants

Question 10

how many pairs of chromosome does arabidopsis have

Answer 10

5 pairs

Question 11

outline some features which make arabidopsis a model plant

Answer 11

1) abundant
2) smaller and simpler genome
3) suseptible to T-DNA insertions
4) low amount of receptive DNA
5) large number if offspring with short generation time

Question 12

what is a gene gun

Answer 12

DNA placed on precious metals is blasted into plant cells

Question 13

what bacteria causes crown gall disease

Answer 13

agrobacterium tumefaciens

Question 14

how does the bacteria responsible for crowns gall disease enter the plant

Answer 14

enters through wounds in roots or stems and stimulates the plant tissues to grow in a disorganised way producing swollen glands

Question 15

what is a Ti plasmid

Answer 15

a tumour inducing plasmid found in agrobacterium

Question 16

what are some ways of genetically transforming plants

Answer 16

1) using T DNA
2) use of viruses
3) electroporation
4) microinjection
5) gene guns

Question 17

what does the vir region, O gene and onc region of the Ti plasmid in agrobacterium tumefaciens allow

Answer 17

vir = region which enables infection
O= gene for opine synthesis
onc= region that specifies plant growth regulators

Question 18

outline the process of using T-DNA for genetic transformation

Answer 18

1) T-DNA is disarmed and the onc and O genes are removed and replaced with a foreign gene leaving on the vir region which enables infection
2) the recombinant plasmid acts as a vector and is transferred into the bacteria
3) T_DNA integrated into the plant genome forming a transgenic plant

Question 19

outline how electroporation is used

Answer 19

1) increases permability of the plasma membrane due to the application of an electric field
2) protoplasts within the electric field take up DNA
3) when the electric field is removed usual permability is returned and new DNA remains in protoplast

Question 20

what can electroporation be used for

Answer 20

1) insertion of proteins into a cell membrane
2) introduction of small molecules
3) introduction of larger molecules
4) cell fusion
5) destruction of the cell membrane

Question 21

what are ways of directly introducing DNA into plant cells

Answer 21

1) gene gun
2) microinjection
3) virus

Question 22

what causes mutagenesis

Answer 22

1) chemical mutagen
2) irradation
3) insertional mutagenesis

Question 23

give some advantages of GM plants in agriculture

Answer 23

1) improved yield
2) imporved nutritional value
3) herbicide resistance
4) reistance to pests
5) better fruit ripening and shelf life

Question 24

what are some disadvantages of GM crops in agriculture

Answer 24

1) public oposition
2) no long term testing
3) heribcide resistant weeds

Question 25

how else can plant biotechnology be used

Answer 25

1) pharmaceuticals
2) bioplastics
3) biofuels
4) phytoremidation

Question 26

what are the symptoms of ebola

Answer 26

fever
headache
sore throat
vomiting
rash
internal and external bleeding

Question 27

how is ebola spread

Answer 27

direct contact with blood or secretions
contact with contaminated objects
contact with an infected animal

Question 28

outline Zmapp and its relation to the ebold virus

Answer 28

it is an experimental biopharmeutical drug which uses 3 humanised monoclonal antiboides conataining neutralised antiboides which provide passive immunity by direclty reacting with the virus

Question 29

where is zmapp manufactured

Answer 29

in the tobacco plant