Question

Streptococcus mutans obtains energy by oxidizing sucrose. This bacterium is abundant in the mouths of Western European and North American children and is a prominent cause of cavities. The organism is virtually absent in children from East Africa, where tooth decay is rare. What evidence would support or reject the conclusion that this is because sucrose is absent in the diets of East African children?

Answer 1

Streptococcus mutans obtains energy by oxidizing sucrose. This bacterium is abundant in the mouths of Western European and North American children and is a prominent cause of cavities. The organism is virtually absent in children from East Africa, where tooth decay is rare. You hypothesize that cavities in Western children are due to an excess of sucrose in the diet. Which of the following would you include in a study designed to test your hypothesis?

a. Inoculate the mouths of a group of Western children with S. mutans.

b. Culture S. mutans from African children, sequence its DNA, and compare to Western S. mutans.

c. Switch a group of East African children to a diet that contains sucrose.

d. Check for S. mutansin the mouths of Western children after their cavities are filled.

e. See whether S. mutansis common in the mouths of Australian and Asian children

Answer:

Option c is correct

Switch a group of East African children to a diet that contains sucrose.

Explanation:

This action would help determine whether the abundance of the bacterium that causes dental cavity is due to the abundance of sucrose in the western diet and north American diet.