Question

The chloroplasts of flowering land plants typically contain at least two photosynthetic pigments, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, that differ in the wavelengths of light they absorb. The synthesis of chlorophyll pigments from precursor molecules is a process that involves many sequential enzyme-catalyzed steps. Researchers studied the growth and photosynthetic ability of a plant that contained a mutant form of one of the enzymes required for chlorophyll biosynthesis.

Q2) Identify an appropriate control that the researchers should use when they study the growth and photosynthetic ability of the plant with the mutant enzyme.

Answer 1

An appropriate control that the researchers should use when they study the growth and photosynthetic ability of the plant with the mutant enzyme is a plant that contains the wild-type version of the enzyme. This control plant should be grown under the same conditions as the plant with the mutant enzyme and should be used as a reference to compare the growth and photosynthetic ability of the two plants. This will allow the researchers to determine the specific effects of the mutant enzyme on chlorophyll biosynthesis and photosynthesis. The control plant should also be of the same species as the plant being studied and should be grown under the same environmental conditions.