UPHESC Assistant Professor Botany 2025 PYQs

Concept: Turner syndrome = 45,XO (monosomy X, 2n − 1) in a phenotypic female.

1. Features: short stature, webbed neck, streak ovaries (sterile), no Barr body.
2. Klinefelter – 47,XXY male; Cri-du-chat – deletion of 5p (structural); Down – trisomy 21 (47,+21).
3. So only Turner has a single X.

Short trick: Turner = 'Ter' (one) X → XO.

Concept: Clements described succession as: nudation → invasion (migration, ecesis, aggregation) → competition & co-action → reaction → stabilization (climax).

1. Nudation – formation of a bare area.
2. Migration – arrival of propagules (seeds, spores).
3. Ecesis – successful germination, establishment of the migrants.
4. Competition – among the established, aggregated individuals for space, light, nutrients.

Short trick: N-M-E-C: Nude land → Move in → Establish → Compete.

Concept: Natural rubber comes from latex of Hevea brasiliensis (Euphorbiaceae).

1. Tapping – a slanting cut in the bark collects latex.
2. Coagulation – latex is diluted and coagulated with dilute formic/acetic acid.
3. Pressing – the coagulum is pressed/rolled into sheets to squeeze out water.
4. Smoking – sheets are dried in a smoke-house (Ribbed Smoked Sheets, RSS).

Short trick: T-C-P-S: Tap → Clot → Press → Smoke.

Concept: Put the milestones in date order.

1. Blakeslee & Avery – colchicine-induced polyploidy in Datura, 1937.
2. Watson & Crick – double-helix model of DNA, 1953.
3. Crick – central dogma (DNA → RNA → protein), 1958 (restated 1970).
4. Hedges & Jacob – coined 'transposon' for the ampicillin-resistance element Tn1, 1974.

Short trick: 1937 → 1953 → 1958 → 1974.

Concept: Archaea live in extremes – halophiles (salt pans), thermoacidophiles (hot springs), methanogens (marshes, rumen).

1. (A) ✔ – they survive due to ether-linked branched lipids (some as monolayers) and stable proteins.
2. (R) ✘ – archaeal walls lack peptidoglycan (murein); they have pseudomurein (N-acetyl-talosaminuronic acid) or protein/glycoprotein S-layers.
3. Peptidoglycan is the wall of eubacteria – that is why archaea resist lysozyme and penicillin.

Short trick: Archaea: ether lipids, no peptidoglycan.

Concept: Apomixis (Winkler, 1908) = substitution of normal sexual reproduction by an asexual process that does not involve meiosis and syngamy.

1. (A) ✔ – gametophytic apomixis (diplospory, apospory) is found mostly in polyploids (e.g. Taraxacum, Rubus, Poa, Citrus); polyploidy and apomixis are strongly associated.
2. (R) ✘ – it states the reverse: apomixis replaces sexual reproduction with an asexual one, not asexual with sexual.

Short trick: Apomixis = seeds without sex (no meiosis, no fertilization).

Concept: Old World = Asia, Africa, Europe; New World = the Americas.

1. a ✔ – Asian rice Oryza sativa was domesticated in China/India (Old World).
2. b ✔ – maize was domesticated from teosinte in Mexico (New World).
3. c ✔ – Vavilov placed bamboo in the Chinese centre of origin.
4. d ✘ – pineapple (Ananas comosus) originated in South America (Brazil–Paraguay) – a New World crop.

Short trick: New World crops: maize, potato, tomato, pineapple, tobacco, rubber, groundnut.

Concept: Match each structure with its role.

1. Nucleosome – 147 bp DNA wrapped 1.65 turns around a histone octamer (a – ii).
2. SAR (scaffold-attachment region)/MAR – AT-rich DNA that anchors chromatin loops to the nuclear matrix/scaffold (b – iv).
3. Tau – a microtubule-associated protein that promotes tubulin assembly and stabilises microtubules (c – i).
4. Dynein-1 (cytoplasmic) – minus-end-directed motor with ATPase activity (d – iii).

Short trick: Nucleosome-147, SAR-scaffold, Tau-tubulin, Dynein-ATPase.

Concept: The Ras superfamily has sub-families with distinct jobs: Ras, Rho, Rab, Arf, Ran.

1. Statement 1 ✔ – Ras relays the RTK signal (RTK → Grb2–SOS → Ras-GTP → Raf → MEK → MAPK/ERK → nucleus) to drive proliferation/differentiation.
2. Statement 2 ✘ – Ran controls nucleo-cytoplasmic transport (importin/exportin cycles, RanGEF in nucleus) and spindle assembly.
3. Vesicle trafficking and exocytosis are regulated by Rab (and Arf/Sar) GTPases.

Short trick: Ras – Signal; Ran – Nuclear transport; Rab – Vesicles.

Concept: Fluid-mosaic membrane (Singer & Nicolson, 1972): lipid bilayer + peripheral and integral proteins.

1. (A) ✔ – the hydrophobic bilayer blocks ions and polar molecules, while integral proteins (channels, carriers, pumps) let only specific solutes through – hence selective permeability.
2. (R) ✘ – integral proteins are highly specific (e.g. aquaporins pass water, K⁺ channels pass K⁺); they do not let every molecule pass freely regardless of size and charge.

Short trick: Integral proteins = gatekeepers, not open doors.

Concept: Each term is directly defined by the item in the same row.

1. Sphingosine – 18-carbon amino alcohol (2-amino-4-octadecene-1,3-diol) with a trans double bond; backbone of sphingolipids (a – i).
2. PHY genes (PHYA–PHYE in Arabidopsis) encode the phytochrome apoprotein, which binds the chromophore phytochromobilin (b – ii).
3. PCD – programmed cell death, i.e. apoptosis (c – iii).
4. MYB proteins – a large family of transcription factors (e.g. regulate anthocyanin, trichomes) (d – iv).

Short trick: Here the lists are already in order: i-ii-iii-iv.

Concept: Somatic embryos (or shoot buds) encapsulated in a sodium alginate gel hardened in CaCl₂ (Ca-alginate beads) form 'synthetic seeds' (Murashige, 1977).

1. They are called synthetic seeds, artificial seeds, or encapsulated seeds/somatic embryos.
2. 'Closed seeds' is not a term used for them.

Short trick: Syn-seed = somatic embryo + alginate coat.

Concept: Somaclonal variation (Larkin & Scowcroft, 1981) = genetic variation arising in plants regenerated from tissue culture.

1. Bio-13 – high-oil citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus) variety from somaclonal variation (CIMAP).
2. Super tomatoes (high solids) and low-oxalate lines are reported somaclonal variants.
3. Topato/Pomato was produced by protoplast fusion of potato and tomato (Melchers, 1978) – a somatic hybrid, not a somaclonal variant.

Short trick: Somaclone = variant of ONE plant from culture; Pomato/Topato = fusion of TWO species.

Concept: Whittaker (1972, 1977) defined inventory and differentiation diversities at increasing scales.

1. Point diversity – within a single sample/quadrat (a – i).
2. Alpha – within a habitat/community (b – ii).
3. Beta – turnover between two habitats/communities along a gradient (c – iii).
4. Delta – differentiation between two landscapes (d – iv); gamma = landscape-level inventory, epsilon = regional.

Short trick: Point → Alpha → Beta → (Gamma) → Delta: small scale to large.

Concept: Whether a mutation is seen depends on ploidy and dominance.

1. (A) ✔ – a monoploid/haploid has one allele per gene, so both dominant and recessive mutations are expressed at once (hence haploids are used in mutation breeding).
2. (B) ✔ in the textbook sense – a recessive mutation in a diploid shows only when homozygous (or hemizygous for X-linked genes).
3. (C) ✘ – recessive alleles are masked in the heterozygote.
4. (D) ✔ – an X-linked recessive lethal kills hemizygous males, so the progeny show a 2 ♀ : 1 ♂ ratio (basis of Muller's ClB test).
5. As printed, at least (A) and (D) – and (B) – are correct, so no single option can be chosen; the question is treated as a bonus.

Short trick: Haploid shows all; diploid hides recessives; X-linked lethal tilts sex ratio.

Concept: Pentoxylales (Sahni, 1948) are Jurassic fossil gymnosperms from Nipania, Rajmahal Hills; each organ has its own form-genus.

1. Stems: Pentoxylon sahnii and Nipanioxylon guptai (Srivastava) – polystelic. In Nipanioxylon the stem has one stele at the base and apex but 5–7 steles in between – the only stem genus among the options.
2. Nipaniophyllum raoi – the strap-shaped leaf.
3. Carnoconites (printed 'Cornoconites') laxum – female (seed-bearing) cone.
4. Sahnia nipaniensis – male cone.

Short trick: Pentoxylales kit: -xylon = stem, -phyllum = leaf, Carnoconites = ♀ cone, Sahnia = ♂ cone.

Concept: Cycads range from tree-like Dioon spinulosum (up to 15–16 m, leaves 1.5–2 m) to dwarf Zamia.

1. Zamia pygmaea (Cuba) is the smallest cycad – tuberous stem ~2–3 cm and leaves only about 10–25 cm long.
2. Z. pumila and Z. floridana (coontie) have leaves 0.3–1 m long.
3. Dioon spinulosum has some of the largest leaves.

Short trick: Pygmy = smallest: Zamia pygmaea.

Concept: The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened at the Rio Earth Summit (1992) and came into force in 1993.

1. Article 1 lists three objectives: (1) conservation of biological diversity, (2) sustainable use of its components, (3) fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources.
2. Options A–C each miss one objective; only D has all three.
3. Supporting protocols: Cartagena (biosafety, 2000) and Nagoya (access & benefit-sharing, 2010).

Short trick: CBD = C-S-B: Conserve, Sustainably use, Benefit-share.

Concept: Several hypotheses explain why alien species become invasive.

1. Statement I ✔ – Empty niche hypothesis (Elton): an invader succeeds by using resources/niches left unused by native species.
2. Statement II ✘ – Novel weapons hypothesis (Callaway & Ridenour, 2004) says invaders win through new allelochemicals to which natives are not adapted (e.g. Centaurea, Parthenium).
3. 'Release from natural enemies' is the Enemy Release Hypothesis (Keane & Crawley, 2002), not the novel weapons hypothesis.

Short trick: Empty niche = unused space; Novel weapons = allelopathy; ERH = no enemies.

Concept: Brundtland Report (Our Common Future, 1987): development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

1. It rests on three interdependent pillars – economic growth, social equity/inclusion and environmental protection (the 'triple bottom line': profit, people, planet).
2. Peace and security are goals (e.g. SDG 16) but are not the three defining pillars.

Short trick: 3 Ps – Profit (economic), People (social), Planet (environment).