Question

What is common to the techniques (i) in vitro fertilisation, (ii) Cryopreservation and (iii) tissue culture?

• A. All are in situ conservation methods.
• B. All are ex situ conservation methods.
• C. All require ultra morden equipment and large space.
• D. All are methods of conservation of extinct organisms.

Answer 1

The correct option is B All are ex situ conservation methods.

Ex situ conservation literally means, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its natural habitat; for example, by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location, which may be a wild area or within the care of humans. The degree to which humans control or modify the natural dynamics of the managed population varies widely, and this may include alteration of living environments, reproductive patterns, access to resources, and protection from predation and mortality. Ex situ management can occur within or outside a species' natural geographic range. Individuals maintained ex situ exist outside an ecological niche. This means that they are not under the same selection pressures as wild populations, and they may undergo artificial selection if maintained ex situ for multiple generation.

(i) In-vitro fertilisation: In vitro fertilisation is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, in vitro. The process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a liquid in a laboratory.

(ii) Cryopreservation: The storage of seeds, pollen, tissue, or embryos in liquid nitrogen. This method can be used for virtually indefinite storage of material without deterioration over a much greater time-period relative to all other methods of ex situ conservation. Cryopreservation is also used for the conservation of livestock genetics through Cryoconservation of animal genetic resources.

(iii) Tissue culture: Somatic tissue can be stored in vitro for short periods of time. This is done in a light and temperature controlled environment that regulates the growth of cells. As a ex situ conservation technique tissue culture is primary used for clonal propagation of vegetative tissue or immature seeds. This allows for the proliferation of clonal plants from a relatively small amount of parent tissue.

So the correct option is 'all are ex situ conservation methods'.