Class – X [CBSE]

Biology Important Questions and Answers

01) How will an organism be benefitted if it reproduces through spores?
Ans. Reproduction through spores gives several advantages to an organism. Some of them are
as follows:
 Spores can remain dormant till favorable conditions become available.
 Spores dispersed easily.
 Spores can be spread through water, air, or animals and thus is good for the spread of
an organism to more places.
 Organisms do not waste their energy in producing male and female gametes, as it is a
type of asexual reproduction.
As spores are composed of thick walls, hence can easily sustain harsh conditions and
prevent dehydration of cells. Reproduction via spore formation is quick and many organisms
germinate at once. Hence this leads to a substantial increase and survival of species population.
02) How does binary fission in amoeba differ from binary fission in Leishmania?
Ans. In amoeba, splitting of the cell into two during cell divison can take place in any plane.
Leishmania has a whip like structure at one end of the cell. Hence binary fission occurs in a
definite orientation in relation to this structure.
03) Do organisms produce ex
act copies of themselves during reproduction?
Ans. In an asexually reproducing organism, variation is restricted. Organisms create exact
copies of themselves, a clone. But the probabilities of variation are very high during a sexually
reproducing organism. Every individual life begins with a basic unit called the cell. The cell
contains a nucleus, which carries the genetic information for subsequent generation within the
DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid). The elemental process of reproduction is DNA replication.
When a reproducing cell commences division, it primarily starts to form a duplicate of its
DNA. This replica is going to be separated from the first DNA. Since DNA can’t create an
organism all through itself, the cell also divides into two. We get a cell with new DNA. Consistent
with the DNA codes, the proteins are made within the new cell.
Accordingly, the cell evolves as a replacement individual which looks almost like the first
cell. These two cells might look similar in their body designs and physiology, but they're not
identical. At the time of the emergence of gametes, meiosis takes place. Eventually, this creates
a DNA different from the parent cell thanks to crossover and recombination. A change within the
information on DNA implies it's the initiation of variation.
04) What is the importance of DNA copying in reproduction?
Ans. The replication of a cell is the process of going from one cell to two cells. As we know the
original single-cell had only one set of DNA it needs to copy so that both resulting cells have the
DNA they need to survive. The reproduction of multicellular organisms is essentially a lot of cell
replications, followed by differentiation of those cells.
The copying of DNA during reproduction is important because
 The replication of DNA ensures that each daughter cell formed at the end of cell
division, receives an equal amount of DNA. The daughter cells won't receive all
necessary genes if by chance DNA won't be copied.
 There may be an absence of important proteins that are encoded by DNA if DNA
won't be replicated. It codes for proteins required by an individual.
 The correct proteins will not be formed if DNA is not copied during reproduction, and
then the structure of the individual will be entirely different and evolution can be led by
this copying of DNA as a result of recombination.
 Transfer of genetic material from one generation to another makes the organisms
have similar functions.
 The stability of the population is maintained.
 The offspring might face some serious abnormalities or might not even develop if DNA
is not copied properly.
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Biology Important Questions and Answers
For example, the parent cell will be able to produce two daughter cells with the same
number of chromosomes or DNA as that of the parent cell only after producing
another copy of its DNA. During reproduction, the DNA in the nucleus replicates itself
to produce another set of chromosomes or DNA.
05) Can you think of reasons why more complex organisms cannot give rise to new
individuals through regeneration?
Ans. Simple organisms are capable of producing new organisms through the process of
regeneration. This is possible in simple organisms because the entire body is made up of similar
kind of cells in which any part of their body can be formed by growth and development.
In case of the complex organisms have organ system level organization. all the organ systems of
their body work together as an interconnected unit.
The tissues in complex organisms cannot regenerate a new individual as they are highly
differentiated to perform specialized functions. For example, human skin cannot regenerate into
a new individual as it is a highly differentiated tissue performing a designed function.
06) Why is vegetative propagation practiced for growing some types of plants?
Ans. Vegetative propagation is practiced because:
 Vegetative propagation is a type of asexual reproduction.
 A portion of the parent plant or specialized reproductive structures known as vegetative
propagules are used to create a new plant.
 It is a quicker and less difficult way.
 It can aid plant growth in areas where germination has failed.
 It can be used to propagate plants that don't generate viable seeds or produce a small
quantity of seeds.
 It's a quick way to grow a lot of plants in a short amount of time.
07) Leaves of the bryophyllum fallen on the ground produce new plants whereas the
leaves of rose do not. Why?
Ans. The leaves of Bryophyllum have notches on their margins, which produce buds. When
these leaves fall on the ground, the buds develop into a new plant by process of vegetative
reproduction, under favourable conditions. The leaves of rose don't have this property. They don't
produce any buds and hence cannot produce new plants by vegetative reproduction. Instead, the
stem of rose plant is used for the purpose.
08) How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits may be dominant or recessive?
Ans. Mendel showed that the traits can either be dominant or recessive through his
experiments that focused on mono-hybrid cross. The experiment involved him crossing tall (TT)
pea plants with dwarf (tt) pea plants. The resultant plants which formed after fertilization
represented the F1 (or filial) generation. All the F1 plants were tall. Mendel then proceeded to
self-pollinate the filial generation plants and the result was that 1/4th of the plants obtained in the
F2 generation were dwarfs. From this experiment, Mendel concluded that the F1 tall plants were
not true-breeding, instead they carried the traits for both tall and dwarf heights. A portion of the
plants were tall due to the fact that the traits for tallness were dominant over the traits for
dwarfness. This cements the notion that traits can either be dominant or recessive.
09) How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits are inherited independently?
Ans. Mendel’s experiments show that traits are inherited independently through his dihybrid
cross experiment. The experiment involved him using two traits – namely, seed shape and seed
colour. The colour yellow (YY) is dominant over green (yy), while the round shape (RR) is
dominant over the wrinkled shape (rr). The F2 progeny of the dihybrid cross resulted in a
phenotypic ratio of 9:3:3:1; therefore, 9 plants with round yellow (RRYY) seeds, 3 plants with
round green (RRyy) seeds and 3 plants with wrinkled yellow (rrYY) seeds and one with wrinkled
green seeds (rryy). He further observed that the wrinkled greens and the round yellow are
parental combinations while the round green and wrinkled yellow are new. A dihybrid cross
between two seeds with dominant traits (RRYY) and non-dominant traits (rryy) resulted in the
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Biology Important Questions and Answers
production of 4 types of gametes (RY, Ry, rY and ry). This means each of the gametes
segregate independently of the other; and each with a frequency of 25% of the total gametes
produced.
10) A man with blood group A marries a woman with blood group O and their daughter
has blood group O. Is this information enough to tell you which of the traits – blood group
A or O – is dominant? Why or why not?
Ans. Given information is not enough to tell us which characteristics are dominant –blood group
A or O. Blood type A is always dominant in ABO blood and blood type O is always recessive.
Here, the father’s blood group may be genotypically AA (homozygous) or AO (heterozygous),
whereas that of mother can be OA or OO.
11) How is the sex of the child determined in human beings?
Ans. Sex of child in humans is determined by the males. Males have XY chromosomes while
females have XX chromosomes. Hence, if
 The male’s X chromosomes combines with the female’s X chromosomes, the mother gives
birth to a girl
 The male’s Y chromosome combines with the female’s X chromosome, the mother gives birth
to a boy
12) What are the different ways in which individuals with a particular trait may increase in
a population?
Ans. An individual attribute could increase in a population within the following 2 ways:-
(a) Natural selection: if an attribute is useful to a population, it’ll increase naturally.
For example – mosquitoes which are resilient against a particular pesticide will pass on its
genes, so that future generations become resistant as well. The mosquitoes which are affected
by the pesticide die out.
(b) Genetic drift: if a species faces a catastrophic event where most of the population is wiped
out, the surviving population can pass on their traits to the following generations. This may result
in a rise of the attribute within the population.
13) Why are traits acquired during the life-time of an individual not inherited?
Ans. Traits acquired during a life-time cannot be inherited for successive generations as the
changes do not reflect in the DNA of the germ cells. For instance, a football player cannot pass
on his skills to his offspring as they are limited to non-reproductive cells only.
14) Why are the small numbers of surviving tigers a cause of worry from the point of view
of genetics?
Ans. As the size of the tiger population decreases, the genetic pool of the species decreases
too. This results in a limitation on the variations which will be introduced within the genetic
makeup of the tigers. This lack of variation will result in serious implications. For example, if an
illness spreads within the tiger population, it can potentially wipe out the whole population,
possibly causing their extinction.
15) What factors could lead to the rise of a new species?
Ans. Factors that would result in a new species are as follows:
(a) Mutation.
(b) Genetic drift.
(c) Natural selection.
(d) Geographical isolation.
(e) Generative isolation for prolonged periods
(f) Environmental factors on the isolated populations.
(g) Quantum of genetic variant transmissible from one generation to the following
generation.
16) Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of a self-pollinating plant
species? Why or why not?
Ans. In a pollination of plant species, geographical isolation is usually not a major factor as no
new trait will become part of the genetic makeup in a self-pollinating plant species. However,

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Biology Important Questions and Answers
there are some possibilities of some environmental changes which could result in some
variations.
17) Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of an organism that
reproduces asexually? Why or why not?
Ans. In the case of asexually reproducing organisms, geographical isolation cannot be
considered a factor. This is due to the fact that meiosis does not occur during asexual modes of
reproduction.
18) A Mendelian experiment consisted of breeding tall pea plants bearing violet flowers
with short pea plants bearing white flowers. The progeny all bore violet flowers, but
almost half of them were short. This suggests that the genetic make-up of the tall parent
can be depicted as (a) TTWW (b) TTww (c) TtWW (d) TtWw
Ans. (c) TtWW might be the genetic makeup of the tall parent. Since half the progenies are
short, this implies that the parent plant also will have a collection of short genes; all progenies
bore violet flowers, further suggesting that violet color is dominant over white.
19) A study found that children with light-colored eyes are likely to have parents with
light-colored eyes. On this basis, can we say anything about whether the light eye color
trait is dominant or recessive? Why or why not?
Ans. Knowledge of at least 3 generations is required for finding if an attribute is dominant or
recessive. Hence, it is not possible to identify if the given trait is dominant or recessive.
20) Outline a project which aims to find the dominant coat color in dogs.
Ans. Dogs have a certain set of genes that govern coat color. There are a minimum of eleven
known sequence series (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, M, P, S, T) that influence the colour of a dog. A dog
inherits one copy from each of its parents. As an example, within the B series, a dog is
genetically black or brown.
Assume that one parent is homozygous black (BB), whereas the other parent is
homozygous brown (bb).
In this case, all the offsprings are going to be heterozygous (Bb).
Since black (B) is dominant, all the offsprings are going to be black. However, they are
going to have each B and b alleles. If such heterozygous pups are crossed, they are going to
produce 25 homozygous blacks (BB), 15 heterozygous black (Bb), and 25 homozygous brown
(bb) offsprings.
21) How is the equal genetic contribution of male and female parents ensured in the
progeny?
Ans. Equal genetic contribution of male and female parents is ensured in progeny through the
inheritance of equal numbers of chromosomes from both parents. There are 23 pairs of
chromosomes but not all is paired. The 22 pairs are called autosomes while the remaining 1 pair
is called the sex chromosomes (represented as X and Y.)
Females have two sets of X-chromosomes while males have 1 X-chromosome and 1 Y-
chromosome.
During the process of reproduction, fertilization takes place, where the male gamete fuses
with the female gamete and it results in the formation of a diploid zygote. Furthermore, the
zygote receives an equal contribution of genetic material from both parents. The male contributes
22 autosomes plus, 1 X or Y chromosomes. The female contributes 22 autosomes, plus 1 X-
chromosome.
22) Only variations that confer an advantage to an individual organism will survive in a
population. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
Ans. The statement holds true – only variations provide an advantage to individual organisms
that will survive in a population. For example, variations that lead to the increase in heat-
resistance in bacteria is very useful for survival if it finds itself in an environment where there is a
sudden increase in ambient temperature. This will determine the difference between life and
death for the bacteria.

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