INTRODUCTORY BOTANY SECOND MIDTERM, NOVEMBER 2004

Name: ______________________________ e-mail address:________________

Please answer each of the following questions in the spaces provided. If you cannot remember a particular term, describe the structure or process for full credit. Feel free to supplement your answers with diagrams. After each question the number of points assigned to it is noted parenthetically.

1. Explain why it is advised to remove some leaves from plants being transplanted from one site to another. (5) ________________________________________________________________________

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2. Why does the growth of plants growing under completely sterile conditions depend on the soil having high fertility? (5) _______________________

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3. Suggest two non-structural reasons why root systems have to continuously enlarge. (6)

a. _________________________________________________________

b. _________________________________________________________

4. Suggest two characteristics of the nutrient acquisition systems of most land plants that promote the uptake of nutrients of low solubility, like phosphorus. Note: The answer is not along the lines of “lots of roots.”(6)

a. ___________________________________________________________

b. ___________________________________________________________

5. Suggest four reasons why the seeds in a single fruit differ from one another genetically.(8)

a. _______________________________

b. _______________________________

c. _______________________________

d. _______________________________

6. Exactly where in an oak tree does meiosis occur? (4) ____________________________

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7. Under what conditions might water move in the opposite direction to what is typical along the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum? (5) __________________________________________________________

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8. As a diploid organism, suggest one benefit of this ploidy level. (4) ___________________

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Name: _______________________________

9. Laurel oak saplings grown separately in 10 L pots were fertilized with either granular inorganic ammonium nitrate or the equivalent amount of nitrogen added in an organic form (horse dung). After the plants were allowed to grow for 2 mo they were left unwatered for 10 d. The pre-dawn water potentials (in Mpa) of the leaves of the plants receiving the two treatments were as follows:

Inorganic fertilizer: -2.4, -2.2, -1.2, -2.6, -1.8, -1.5, -2.1, -2.2, -2.8, -2.7

Organic fertilizer: -1.2, -1.6, -1.3, -2.0, -1.9, -2.2, -1.1, -0.9, -1.4, -0.8

a. What is the hypothesis being tested in this experiment? (4) ______________________________

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b. Graph the data from the experiment in a way that facilitates comparison of the treatments. (4)

c. Briefly present and then explain the results. (4) __________________________________________

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d. Suggest how this experiment could be improved. In other words, what changes in the experiment would make you more confident in the results. (4) ___________________________________________________________________________________

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10. What is the principal location of protein synthesis in plant cells? (be specific) (3) _____________

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11. If you could cause stomata to remain closed, what would be the most apparent short-term effect? (3)

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12. What moves through the phloem and what is the principal driving force? (4) _____________________

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Name: __________________________________

13.What moves through the xylem and what is the principal driving force? (4) ______________________

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14. Name and describe the functions of 3 different types of RNA in plant cells. (6)

a. ________________________________________________________________

b. _________________________________________________________________

c. _________________________________________________________________

15. What is the principal and most variable resistance to transpiration in vascular plants? (4)

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16. What is meant by “alternation of generations”? (3) ___________________________________

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17. Explain in detail how do plants know which way is up. (5) ________________________________

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18. Describe the physics responsible for the opening and closing of stomata. (6) __________________

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19. Name three places in a tree where mitosis typically occurs at a rapid rate. (3)

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