Plant Genetics Quiz

What is polyploidy?

• A type of plant disease

• A natural phenomenon involving chromosome number in cells

• A method of plant breeding

• A monster from folklore

How many sets of chromosomes do humans have?

• One set

• Two sets

• Three sets

• Four sets

What percentage of plants on Earth are polyploid?

• 10%

• 25%

• 30%

• 50%

Which of the following is an effect of polyploidy?

• It makes strawberries smaller

• It makes banana seeds more prominent

• It makes cotton fibers less abundant

• It makes strawberries larger

Which plant did Dana Robinson and colleagues from Cornell University study to quantify many cell components in chromosome-heavy plants?

• Arabidopsis thaliana

• Zea mays

• Oryza sativa

• Brassica napus

What did the researchers confirm about the flower size in relation to ploidy in Arabidopsis plants?

• Flower size decreases with ploidy.

• Flower size is not affected by ploidy.

• Flower size increases with ploidy.

• Flower size varies randomly with ploidy.

What morphological difference was observed on the leaf surface of Arabidopsis plants with different ploidy levels?

• Color changes in the leaves.

• Development of thorns on the leaves.

• Microscopic hairs (trichome) that get more branches when ploidy increases.

• Increase in leaf thickness.

What is the ploidy level of the Arabidopsis plants that the researchers generated in the laboratory, besides the diploid ones?

• Monoploid and triploid

• Tetraploid and hexaploid

• Tetraploid and octoploid

• Hexaploid and decaploid

When ploidy doubles in plant organs, how does the cell area change according to the researchers?

• It doubles exactly.

• It increases by ~1.7x.

• It decreases proportionally.

• It remains the same.

What compensatory change occurs in plant cells when the organ size increases due to ploidy doubling?

• The number of cells increases.

• The number of cells decreases.

• The cell size decreases.

• The cell size increases.