Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
Chapter 41
Plant Reproduction
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Angiosperms use which temporary reproductive structures that are not present in any other
group of plants?
2. What is the process that eventually leads to the death of a plant?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
3. The developmental transition during which plants become able to respond to external
and/or internal signals that promote flowering is known as
4. Your friend examines an ivy vine growing on the side of a campus building and says,
“Look – some of the branches on this plant have a different morphology. The leaf shapes and
patterning are different, and there are flowers on some branches but not others. There must
have been a mutation!” You respond,
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
and flowering patterns in different regions.
What type of thinking is required?
• Evaluate level:
Gather Content
What do you already know about flowers? What other information is related to the
question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
5. One way to improve crop productivity is to modify flowering time. This can allow for
multiple growing seasons in one year, and can also increase grain production because a
smaller plant has lower resource needs. You are approached by an agricultural company that
wants to create an early-flowering transgenic plant. Using your knowledge of Arabidopsis
genetics, which genetic modifications would you suggest?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
• Analyze level:
Gather Content
What do you already know about EMF and LEAFY genes? What other information is
related to the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
6. Arabidopsis plants with a mutation in the gene embryonic Flower (EMF) produce flowers
almost immediately after germination, before shoot growth occurs. What is the normal role of
this gene?
7. Interrupting the night with a flash of light can trigger flowering in a long-day plant. Why
doesn’t introducing a short period of darkness during the day cause a short-day plant to
flower?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
41-7
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
Gather Content
What do you already know about long-day and short-day plants? What other information
is related to the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
8. Which of the following statements about flowering plants is TRUE?
9. Why do many plants use the photoperiodic pathway to regulate the timing of flower
formation?
10. You buy a Schlumbergera plant, also known as a Christmas Cactus, to decorate the desk
where you study late into the night. It is now December, and there are no signs of flower buds
forming. What is the most plausible explanation for the lack of flowers?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
• Evaluate level:
Gather Content
What do you already know about flower production? What other information is related to
the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
41–10
11. The owner of a plant nursery is introducing the new night janitor to his duties. “Behind
this door are the poinsettias,” she said, “Please don’t clean this room, and leave the door
closed.” Why might the owner say this?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
• Analyze level:
Gather Content
What do you already know about short-day and long-day plants? What other information
is related to the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
12. At a certain point in the flowering process, shoots become committed to making a flower.
This is called
13. Competence means that a plant is _________, while determination means that a plant
tissue __________. The acquisition of flowering competence is an example of a __________.
14. In the ABC model of floral determination, a different combination of the three genes
specifies each floral organ. Which gene works in combination with the other two?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
41–13
15. At the Beautiful Mutants Flower Shop, a variety of unique mutant plants are sold. What
would be the best flower to give to a friend who is allergic to pollen?
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
• Evaluate level:
Gather Content
What do you already know pollen? What other information is related to the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?
16. Flowering can be regulated by light, temperature, gibberellin levels, or internal factors.
What do all of these different flowering pathways have in common?
17. A seed that lands in the forest soil is homozygous mutant for the LEAFY (LFY) gene, and
as a result does not produce any functional LEAFY protein. What do you predict will happen
during the development of this seed?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
Gather Content
What do you already know about flowering and the LEAFY gene? What other information
is related to the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
18. A seed that lands in the forest soil is homozygous mutant for the CONSTANS (CO) gene,
and as a result does not produce any functional CONSTANS protein. What do you predict
will happen during the development of this seed?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
41–17
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
Gather Content
What do you already know about the CONSTANS gene? What other information is related
to the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
19. How could you monitor flower determination in a plant that is mutant for all three class E
SEP genes?
20. Evolutionarily, floral parts represent modified
21. Ovules develop within the ovary, which is located in the swollen lower portion of which
floral organ?
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
22. Which of the following is NOT a floral structure?
23. Your botany instructor likes to tell nerdy jokes, like this: “I wanted to buy a pink Toyota
Corolla, but the dealer only had a green Calyx available.” Impress your instructor with a
clever response to this joke.
Chapter 41 – Plant Reproduction
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
Gather Content
What do you already know about flower anatomy? What other information is related to the
question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the
process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a
more desirable result?