Question

How will you determine whether an element is essential for plant growth or not?
(correct answer + 1, wrong answer - 0.25)

• A. Grow the plant in a solution medium containing only the suspected essential mineral element and observe its development.
• B. Grow the plant in the soil, and add suspected essential mineral element and plot the graph of the observed growth.
• C. Grow the plant in a solution medium contaning all the essential elements except the suspected essential element and observe its growth.
• D. Grow the plant in the soil, measure the amount of suspected essential element present in the soil and plot these amounts against plant growth.

Answer 1

The correct option is C Grow the plant in a solution medium contaning all the essential elements except the suspected essential element and observe its growth.

The initial step for the determination of whether the element is essential or not is to identify and remove it from the plant growth medium first.

However, soil has far too many unknowns to take account of. Hence, a medium containing the solution of elements is made in vitro.

This nutrient solution medium will contain all the essential elements except for the suspected essential element. Plant is then allowed to grow in this medium. Observing the growth of the plant while it grows in this medium will help to see if the plant suffers from any developmental abnormality or not.