Answer:
What are stinkhorns? Stinkhorns are mushrooms that are found from the tropics to more temperate regions such as Wisconsin. They can suddenly appear in mulch, lawns, and areas with bare soil. These visually-shocking fungi get their common name from their characteristic, unpleasant odor. Although they are often unwanted additions to home gardens, stinkhorns do not cause plant disease. Because stinkhorns can grow on dead organic material, they actually are beneficial in that they contribute to the recycling of plant debris into nutrients that improve soil fertility and can be used by garden plants.
What do stinkhorns look like? Stinkhorns grow into various shapes, but they are bestknown for looking like horns or penises. A few species grow several appendages, resulting in an octopus-like appearance. Some species have a veil attached below the cap that resembles a lacey skirt flowing from the mushroom’s hollow stalk. Stinkhorns can range in color from white, beige, and olive to bright orange or red with black accents. The tips of mature stinkhorns are usually coated in a spore-containing slime. Gardeners often discover immature stinkhorns as they dig in the soil. The immature forms appear as whitish to pink or purple, egg-shaped masses. Stinkhorns develop rapidly sometimes growing up to four to six inches per hour, and can generate enough force to break through asphalt.
Where do stinkhorns come from? Stinkhorns are often first introduced into a garden in organic materials (e.g., soils and mulches) that contain microscopic hyphae (i.e., fungal threads) of stinkhorn fungi. Once stinkhorns mature, they produce a pungent, off-putting odor that is reminiscent of rotting flesh or dung. This smell may disgust people, but it attracts insects, particularly flies. Flies and other insects eat the slimy material at the tips of stinkhorns and carry spores in this slime to new locations as they move around in the environment. In many ways, this process is comparable to the distribution of pollen by bees (but of course without the more appealing scents associated with most flowers).
1. Answer: A
Explanation: For a cell to form proteins, the specific types of proteins are coded for by the genes in DNA (found in the chromosomes of the nucleus). To produce proteins, the genes are first transcribed by RNA polymerase to form messenger-RNA. The mRNA is then translated into proteins by ribosomes in the cytoplasm of the cell.
2. Answer: B
Explanation: Translation of genes into proteins is dependent on the sequence of nucleotides. They are translated in sequences of 3 nucleotides known as codons. Therefore adding a nucleotide on a piece of DNA causes what is referred to as a frame-shift mutation. The 3 sequences (of codons) is interrupted and shifted by one nucleotide. Therefore, the codons change and the amino acids translated will also change.
3. Answer: A
Expanation: Producers are significant in a food chain because they incorporate the energy of the sun into the food chain. This is why they are at the base of the food chain and have the largest biomass. They are consumed by primary consumers which are consumed by secondary consumers which are consumed by tertiary consumers and so on.
4. Answer: D
Explanation: Plants are consumed by herbivores. Therefore, a decrease in plant population due to drought was resulted to decrease in herbivore population. This is due to stiff competition by the herbivores for the scarce plant population. Carnivores consume herbivores. Due to a decrease in the herbivore population, then the carnivore population would also decrease.
5. Answer: A
Explanation: Burning of fossil fuels emits carbon dioxide gas which is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gas traps infrared wavelength of lights hence warming up the atmosphere, causing global warming. Reduction in use of fossil fuels will hence alleviate an increase in global temperature hence protect coral in the oceans from bleaching.
