A horticultural company uses tissue culture to produce identical disease-resistant banana plants. Fig. 1 shows the stages used to produce many young plants ...
Question 1 Report
A horticultural company uses tissue culture to produce identical disease-resistant banana plants. Fig. 1 shows the stages used to produce many young plants from cells taken from one parent plant. The company keeps the plants in sterile containers and later transfers them to compost. All plants have the same DNA as the original plant unless a mutation occurs.
(a) Name the type of cell division used when the cell mass grows. [1]
(b) Describe what happens to chromosome number during this cell division. [1]
(c) Explain why the young banana plants have the same genotype as the parent plant. [2]
(d) Suggest one disadvantage of producing a large crop from genetically identical plants. [2]
Answer Details
(a) The cell mass grows by mitosis. [1]
(b) During mitosis, chromosome number remains the same in each daughter cell. [1]
(c) Mitosis produces genetically identical daughter cells. Therefore the same alleles, or DNA, are copied into the young banana plants as were present in the parent plant, unless a mutation occurs. [2]
(d) A disadvantage is little genetic variation in the crop. If a disease, pest, or environmental change affects one genetically identical plant, it may affect all the plants. [2]
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