Exam 1: Biology and the Tree of Life

Agrobacterium is a type of bacteria that infects plants and causes them to form tumors.You determine that tumor formation requires a huge amount of the plant's energy for tissue formation.How might this change the number of offspring a plant produces,and what is the most likely explanation for this change?

Use the following information when answering the corresponding question(s). In 1668 Francesco Redi did a series of experiments on spontaneous generation.He began by putting similar pieces of meat into eight identical jars.Four jars were left open to the air,and four were sealed.He then did the same experiment with one variation: Instead of sealing four of the jars completely,he covered them with gauze (the gauze will exclude the flies while allowing the meat to be exposed to air).In both experiments,he monitored the jars and recorded whether or not maggots (young flies)appeared in the meat. -Refer to the paragraph on Redi's experiments.In both experiments,flies appeared in all of the open jars and only in the open jars.Which one of the following statements is correct?

For many years,no one bothered to test the food-competition hypothesis for why giraffes have long necks.Why?

One aspect of Darwin's theory of natural selection is that adaptations not useful to fitness are lost faster if they have a greater cost.With this in mind,which of the following explanation is most likely true?

Which statement about spontaneous generation is false?

In the diagram below,"A" is _____ ;"B" is _____.

Recall the giraffe experiment that suggested longer necks gave a reproductive advantage to males.Which of the following could counteract or negate this advantage?

Use the following information when answering the corresponding question(s). In 1668 Francesco Redi did a series of experiments on spontaneous generation.He began by putting similar pieces of meat into eight identical jars.Four jars were left open to the air,and four were sealed.He then did the same experiment with one variation: Instead of sealing four of the jars completely,he covered them with gauze (the gauze will exclude the flies while allowing the meat to be exposed to air).In both experiments,he monitored the jars and recorded whether or not maggots (young flies)appeared in the meat. -Refer to the paragraph on Redi's experiments.What hypothesis was being tested in the initial experiment with open versus sealed jars?

Recall Pasteur's experiment on spontaneous generation.If he had just warmed the nutrient-rich broth,rather than boiled it,what would have been the likely outcome of his experiment?

Over the past several decades,natural selection has caused populations of Staphylococcus aureus (an infectious wound bacterium)to evolve resistance to most antibiotics.If antibiotic use were stopped,what would you predict would happen to these S.aureus populations?

The cow Bos primigenius (which is bred for meat and milk)has a smaller brain and larger eyes than closely related wild species of ungulates.These traits most likely arose by _____.

A friend of yours calls to say that his car would not start this morning.He asks for your help.You say that you think the battery must be dead,and that if so,then jump-starting the car from a good battery will solve the problem.In doing so,you are _____.

Algae in the genus Caulerpa typically grow to a length of over half a meter and have structures similar to stems,leaves,and roots.Reproduction occurs when adults produce sperm and eggs that fuse to form offspring.Each adult Caulerpa consists of just a single cell,however.Which of the following statements is true?

Why did the five-kingdom system of classification fall out of favor?

Recall the experiment on ant navigation.What parameters would have to be held constant for the test group of 75 ants in order to run a controlled experiment?

Louis Pasteur's experiment had a good design because _____.

Which of the following would not be a good reason for studying rRNA to understand the major branches in the evolutionary history of life?

Your colleague proposes to test the mechanism of ant navigation by placing a food source 7 m from the nest.She will then pick up the ants from the nest and move them 4 meters from the nest (3 m from the food source).Based on the previous data,when do you expect the ants to start searching for their nest on their return trip?

Both tuna (fish)and dolphins (mammals)have a streamlined body shape and large tail fins that they use to move through the water.Many other anatomical and molecular data indicate,however,that tuna and dolphins are not closely related from an evolutionary perspective.The latter data suggest that _____.

Current understanding of the evolutionary relationships among organisms _____.