I love the sciences surrounding biology, physiology and nutrition. It brings me joy to help others grasp these topics, but most of all, I like to turn a subject of frustration into a new passion or interest!
Micronutrients are needed in very small amounts because(A) most of them are mobile in the plant.(B) most serve mainly as cofactors of enzymes.(C) most arve supplied in large enough quantities in seeds.(D) they play only a minor role in the growth and health of the plant.
Epiphytes are(A) fungi that attack plants.(B) fungi that form mutualistic associations with roots.(C) nonphotosynthetic parasitic plants.(D) plants that grow on other plants.
A mineral deficiency is likely to affect older leaves more than(A) the minineral is a micronutrient.(B) the mineral is very mobile within the plant.(C) the mineral is required for chlorophyll synthesis.(D) the mineral is a macronutrient.
Two groups of tomatoes were grown under laboratoryconditions, one with humus added to the soil and one acontrol without humus. The leaves of the plants grownwithout humus were yellowish (less green) compared withthose of the plants grown in humus-enriched soil. The bestexplanation is that(A) the healthy plants used the food in the decomposing leaves of the humus for energy to make chlorophyll.(B) the humus made the soil more loosely packed, so water penetrated more easily to the roots.(C) the humus contained minerals such as magnesium and iron need for the synthesis of chlorophyll.(D) the heat released by the decomposing leaves of the humus caused more rapid growth and chlorophyll synthesis.
DRAW IT Draw a simple sketch of cation exchange, showinga root hair, a soil particle with anions, and a hydrogen iondisplacing a mineral cation.
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY Acid precipitation has an abnormallyhigh concentration of hydrogen ions $\left(\mathrm{H}^{+}\right)$ One effect ofacid precipitation is to deplete the soil of nutrients suchas calcium $\left(\mathrm{Ca}^{2+}\right)$,potassium $\left(\mathrm{K}^{+}\right)$, and magnesium $\left(M g^{2 +}\right)$. Suggest a hypothesis to explain how acid precipitationwashes these nutrients from the soil. How might you testyour hypothesis?