MasteringBiology: Practice Exam 3 CH 31

Plasmogamy can directly result in which of the following? 1. cells with a single haploid nucleus 2. heterokaryotic cells 3. dikaryotic cells 4. cells with two diploid nuclei

2 or 3

The following figure depicts the outline of a large fairy ring that has appeared overnight in an open meadow, as viewed from above. The fairy ring represents the furthest advance of this mycelium through the soil. Locations A-D are all 0.5 meters below the soil surface. Which location is nearest to basidiocarps?

A- touching the perimeter of the circle

What do fungi and arthropods have in common?

Both groups use chitin for support.

There is much discussion in the media about protecting biodiversity. But does biodiversity really matter? Canadian and Swiss researchers wanted to know if the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was important to the productivity of grasslands (M.G.A. van der Heijden, J. N. Klironomos, M. Ursic, P. Moutoglis, R. Streitwolf-Engel, T. Boler, A. Wiemken, and I. R. Sanders. 1998. Mycorrhizal fungal diversity determines plant biodiversity, ecosystem variability and productivity. Nature 396:69-72). Specifically, they wanted to know if it mattered which specific AMF species were present, or just that some type of AMF was present. They grew various plants in combination with one of four AMF species (A, B, C, and D), no AMF species (O), or all four AMF species together (A+B+C+D); and they measured plant growth under each set of conditions. All plant species were grown in each plot, so they always competed with each other with the only difference being which AMF species were present. On the graphs below, the x-axis labels indicate the number and identity of AMF species (bar 0 = no fungi; bars A-D = individual AMF species; bar A+B+C+D = all AMF species together). The y-axis indicates the amount (grams) of plant biomass for the species shown in italics above each graph.

Carex flacca (graph a)

You observe the gametes of a fungal species under the microscope and realize that they resemble animal sperm. To which of the following group does the fungus belong?

Chytrids

Based on the idea that fungi have pores between their cell walls, which allow cytoplasm to move from one end of the mycelium to the other, which of the following hypotheses is the most plausible?

If a single mycorrhizal fungus formed symbiotic associations with more than one tree, carbon could travel from one plant to another.

It has been hypothesized that fungi and plants have a mutualistic relationship because plants make sugars available for the fungi's use. What is the best evidence in support of this hypothesis?

Radioactively labeled sugars produced by plants eventually show up in the fungi with which they are associated.

For several decades now, amphibian species worldwide have been in decline. A significant proportion of the decline seems to be due to the spread of the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Chytrid sporangia reside within the epidermal cells of infected animals, animals that consequently show areas of sloughed skin. They can also be lethargic, which is expressed through failure to hide and failure to flee. The infection cycle typically takes four to five days, at the end of which zoospores are released from sporangia into the environment. In some amphibian species, mortality rates approach 100%; other species seem able to survive the infection. When adult amphibian skin harbors populations of the bacterium, Janthinobacterium lividum (Jl), chytrid infection seems to be inhibited. Which of the following represents the best experimental design to test whether this inhibition is real?

Take infected amphibians and assign them to two populations. Leave one population alone; inoculate the other with Jl. Measure the rate at which infection proceeds in both populations.

Fungi have an extremely high surface-area-to-volume ratio. What is the advantage of this to an organism that gets most of its nutrition through absorption?

The larger surface area allows for more material to be transported through the cell membrane.

Rose-picker's disease is caused by the yeast Sporothrix schenkii (S. schenkii). The yeast grows on the exteriors of rose-bush thorns. If a human gets pricked by such a thorn, the yeasts can be introduced under the skin. The yeasts then assume a hyphal morphology and grow along the interiors of lymphatic vessels until they reach a lymph node. This often results in the accumulation of pus in the lymph node, which subsequently ulcerates through the skin surface and then drains. Humans have immune systems in which lymph nodes are important, because many phagocytes and lymphocytes reside there. Given that a successful infection by S. schenkii damages lymph nodes themselves, which of the following is most probable?

Their conversion from yeast to hyphal morphology allows such fast growth that the body's defenses are at least temporarily overwhelmed.

Basidiomycetes are the only fungal group capable of synthesizing lignin peroxidase. What advantage does this group of fungi have over other fungi because of this capability?

This fungal group can break down the tough lignin, which cannot be harnessed for energy, to get to the more useful cellulose.

Which of the following best describes the physical relationship of the partners involved in lichens?

Which of the following best describes the physical relationship of the partners involved in lichens?

The multicellular condition of animals and fungi seems to have arisen _____.

by convergent evolution

Fossil fungi date back to the origin and early evolution of plants. What combination of environmental and morphological change is similar in the evolution of both fungi and plants?

colonization of land and loss of flagellated cells

For several decades now, amphibian species worldwide have been in decline. A significant proportion of the decline seems to be due to the spread of the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Chytrid sporangia reside within the epidermal cells of infected animals, animals that consequently show areas of sloughed skin. They can also be lethargic, which is expressed through failure to hide and failure to flee. The infection cycle typically takes four to five days, at the end of which zoospores are released from sporangia into the environment. In some amphibian species, mortality rates approach 100%; other species seem able to survive the infection. Sexual reproduction has not been observed in Bd. If its morphology and genetics did not identify it as a chytridiomycete, then to which fungal group would Bd be assigned?

deuteromycetes

When a mycelium infiltrates an unexploited source of dead organic matter, what are most likely to appear within the food source soon thereafter?

fungal enzymes

When pathogenic fungi are found growing on the roots of grape vines, grape farmers sometimes respond by covering the ground around their vines with plastic sheeting and pumping a gaseous fungicide into the soil. The most important concern of grape farmers who engage in this practice should be that the _____.

fungicide might also kill mycorrhizae

If haustoria from the fungal partner were to appear within the photosynthetic partner of a lichen, and if the growth rate of the photosynthetic partner consequently slowed substantially, then this would support the claim that _____.

lichens are not purely mutualistic relationships

Some fungal species can kill herbivores while feeding off of sugars from its plant host. What type of relationship does this fungus have with its host?

mutualistic

In most fungi, karyogamy does not immediately follow plasmogamy, which consequently _____.

results in heterokaryotic or dikaryotic cells

After cytokinesis occurs in budding yeasts, the daughter cell has a _____.

similar nucleus and less cytoplasm than the mother cell

A billionaire buys a sterile volcanic island that recently emerged from the sea. To speed the arrival of conditions necessary for plant growth, the billionaire might be advised to aerially sow what over the island?

soredia