Question

A nutritionally wild type organism which does not require additional biochemicals is

• A. Prototroph
• B. Auxotroph
• C. Phenotype
• D. Holotype

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

Prototroph

The wild type cells that are capable of utilizing certain nutrients or synthesizing certain compounds and do not require any additional organic nutrients as growth supplements are called prototrophs. Option A is correct.

Auxotrophs are the mutant cells that are incapable of utilizing certain nutrients or synthesizing certain compounds and hence they can grow on minimal media plus the specific growth supplement for which they are mutant. Option B is incorrect. For example, a wild type bacteria capable of utilizing lactose as a nutrient source is prototroph (lac+) while its auxotroph would be unable to utilize lactose is denoted lac-.

The phenotype is the visible expression of the genotype of an organism. For example "TT" is the genotype and tallness is the associated phenotype. Option C is incorrect.

The holotype is the specimen that represents the whole species or designated as the type specimen of the species. Option D is incorrect.