Question

You are growing plants hydroponically (rooted in an aqueous solution rather than soil). The solution for the control group of plants contains normal levels of salts and nutrients, while the solution for the treatment group has a high concentration of large molecular weight solutes that are excluded by roots. You find that the plants in the treatment group are on average smaller than those in the control group, but there is no significant difference between the groups in the amount of CO2 being fixed by the average plant. What differences at the cellular level between groups would you expect to make an important contribution to the difference in size of the shoots?A. The total number of cells in the treatment group shoots would be smaller.B. The girth of cells in the elongation and mature zones would be larger in the control group.C. Cellulose molecules would be more randomly oriented in mature cell walls in the treatment group.D. Auxin levels and cell wall extensibility would be lower in the treatment group.E. The length of cells in the elongation and mature zones would be larger in the control group.

Answer 1

E. The length of cells in the elongation and mature zones would be larger in the control group.

Step-by-step explanation:

The length of cells in the elongation and mature zones would be larger in the control group this is because of the increase in the solute concentration of the hydroponic growth medium which excluded the roots.

This reduces the amount of water that moves into the root system of the plants and nutrients which imitate drought conditions, this imposed drought leads to a decrease in the plant growth.