Plant Diversity

Question 1

What is the current food security issue

Answer 1

Global pop will be 9.6 billion by 2050

Foods production must increase by 60-110% to meet demand

Question 2

What was the green revolution

Answer 2

Food demands weren’t being met
Dwarf wheat was created that is sturdier and wont be blown away. So less resources go into growing stems (if they fell over they wouldn’t be harvested)
Food yields doubled in India and Pakistan

Question 3

How can productivity of a crop by increased

Answer 3

Conventional breeding and selecting for a yield 
Improved agronomy (how you farm; the crops used and the soil they are grown in) 
GM: selecting for traits that will increase yield

Question 4

What are the main types of food waste

Answer 4

Poor storage conditions
Pests and diseases
Retail (shelf life, cosmetic appearance)
Household food waste

Question 5

How are crops adapting to cope with climate change

Answer 5

Drought resistance
Flooding tolerance
Salt-resistance

Question 6

Plant pathology definition

Answer 6

Similar to a human doctor

Cures plant diseases

Question 7

Plant epidemiology definition

Answer 7

The spread of pant diseases

Question 8

Explain golden rice

Answer 8

Golden rice contains high levels of b-carotene (vitamin a precursor) which aids in sight
Helps prevent blindness as 750,000 children go blind every year due to deficiency

Question 9

How does farming impact biodiversity

Answer 9

Has drastic effect

67% wildlife species found on uk farmland were under threat from agricultural practices in 2000

Question 10

Give 2 e.g.s of biofuel

Answer 10

Algae = biodiesel
(However is very expensive)

Miscanthus = extract the sugar from it to turn it to alcohol and then use as fuel

Question 11

What are bioproducts

Answer 11

Plants produce a wide range of natural products which could be exploited if we could purify them.
E.g. aspirin is from willow bark

Question 12

The difference between human and plant growth

Answer 12

Plants have intermediate growth
- after they first form a sprout they could differentiate into anything

Humans have determinate growth

• develop in the womb
• all structurally the same

Question 13

Plant plasticity

Answer 13

It is possible for cells to undifferentiate and then re-differentiate
Ca regenerate a plant from almost any piece of tissue

Question 14

Micropropagation

Answer 14

Rapid multiplication of plant stock = lots of progeny plants
Take small piece of plant tissue and place on algal plate = new plants created

Question 15

Basic overview of plant evolution

Answer 15

started as algae (but they are not plants)
Moss created
Then developed water conducting tissue (vascular)
Ferns created
Then seeds developed
Cone bearing plants created
Flowers and seeds enclosed in fruit developed
Flowering plants created

Question 16

Describe non vascular plants

Answer 16

E.g. mosses

They have simple body plans and rely on diffusion

Question 17

Describe pre seed vascular plants

Answer 17

E.g. ferns
Reproduce with spores rather than seeds (single cells dispersed by wind)
Have a xylem and phloem

Question 18

E.g. of plants with seeds but no flowers

Answer 18

Conifers

Ginko tree

Question 19

Describe flowering plants

Answer 19

~370,000 species known

Massive variety in morphology

Question 20

Cotyledon

Answer 20

A leaf like structure formed in the embryo

Question 21

Monocot

Answer 21

One cotyledon
E.g. grasses, palms and orchids
All major crops that produce large biomass = cereal crops

Question 22

Dicot

Answer 22

Two cotyledons
Tend to be broad leafed plants
= leafy crops

Question 23

Wind pollination

Answer 23

Flowers structured for dispersal
Common method for monocots
Large quantities of pollen

Question 24

Animal pollinations

Answer 24

Usually insects
Brightly coloured structures
Attractive
Benefit e.g. nectar