Rice Is a Staple Crop Across Asia; It Serves as a Main

question 14

Multiple Choice

Rice is a staple crop across Asia; it serves as a main nutritional source for Asia's high population. In the 1970s, a pathogen called the grassy-stunt virus greatly decreased cultivated rice plant populations in Asia. Scientists found one wild relative of the rice plant in India that was resistant to the grassy-stunt virus, and today hybrid rice plants with that resistant gene are grown across Asia. To find this one rice plant species, approximately 17,000 rice plants samples were tested over the course of 4 years. If you were a scientist working on this project, how would you argue that the results of the research would be worth the time investment?

• A) Finding the wild relative with disease resistance would help avoid extirpation of fungus that has a mutualistic relationship with the cultivated rice plants.
• B) Finding the wild relative with disease resistance would protect the continent of Asia as a biodiversity hot spot.
• C) Finding the wild relative with disease resistance would allow Asian farmers to continue to grow the crop they know.
• D) Finding the wild relative with disease resistance would help deter invasive species of rice plants.

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Definitions:

Nucleic Acid

Biomolecules essential to life, including DNA and RNA, that carry genetic information for the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all living organisms and many viruses.

Protein

Large biomolecules consisting of one or more long chains of amino acid residues, crucial for the structure, function, and regulation of the body's cells, tissues, and organs.

Beta-pleated Sheet

A secondary structure found in proteins, characterized by folded sheets stabilized by hydrogen bonding.

Tertiary Structure

The overall three-dimensional shape of a protein, resulting from interactions among its amino acids and determining its activity and function.