A Molecular Biologist Working for a Government-Run Fishery in Vietnam

question 70

Multiple Choice

A molecular biologist working for a government-run fishery in Vietnam is interested in controlling Pfisteria in fish farms. He needs to come up with a treatment that kills Pfisteria without harming the fish and other protists and beneficial algae that serve as food for the young fish. What strategy should the biologist consider for developing a selective treatment?

• A) The cell wall of this dinoflagellate algae would have cellulose and pectin, so developing a drug treatment that could be sprayed into the water would kill it without harming the fish or the other algae that they feed on.
• B) Since this algae has a motile flagellated form that hurts fish, developing a drug that paralyzes the flagellar structure would prevent it from harming the fish (but would leave the other non-flagellated protozoa and algae they feed on alone).
• C) Since the problem lies in the toxins that this algae releases, heating up the water the fish are in to 65-75 degrees Celsius would inactivate the toxin proteins by denaturing them, keeping the fish safe.
• D) The cell wall of this dinoflagellate algae has silicon dioxide within it-so limiting the amount of this compound in the fish farm environment would prevent the algae from forming a proper cell wall, leading to their death.