Read the given passage and answer the six questions that follow.
Coffee’s genetic make-up is no trivial concern; 10 million tonnes of the crop were grown and sold in 2022–23. The coffee that we drink comes from two species: Coffea Canephora, which is also known as Robusta and Coffea Arabica, known as Arabica. In many cases, beans from the two species are blended to make a brew. But the beans of single species are also roasted and sold. Overall, Arabica beans represent around 56Most genetic variation in living organisms comes from hybridization with other species.
However, this is a relatively rare event for Coffea Arabica because it has more than two copies of each chromosome — a phenomenon called polyploidy. Coffea Canephora has two copies of each chromosome, but Coffea Arabica contains multiple copies. This makes it much more difficult for Arabica to interbreed with other species. As a result, Coffea Arabica’s main source of single nucleotide variation is mutation, which occurs at a steady rate over time. However, the species is also 24 relatively young, having formed as a hybrid of Robusta and Coffea Eugenioides — another coffee species that is not widely cultivated — within the past 50,000 years. From that single plant, which has basically no variation, you create the whole species, and then the variation is only the novel mutations that have occurred since that event.
Despite this, there is substantial variation in the physical characteristics of the Arabica coffee plant, including different flavour profiles in the beans and variations in disease resistance, says emeritus geneticist Juan Medrano at the UC Davis Coffee Center at the University of California, Davis. “We’re always talking about low variability at the DNA level, but there is variability at the structural level, at the chromosomal level, at the level of deletions . . . and insertions,” Medrano says.
Q) Which of the following statements is true about Coffea Arabica?
Correct Answer :
It displays the phenomenon of polyploidy.
Solution :
Based on the provided passage, the correct option is: It displays the phenomenon of polyploidy.
Let us break down the passage step-by-step to understand why this statement is correct and why the other options are incorrect:
1. Analyzing Coffea Arabica's chromosomes:
The passage explicitly states: "...this is a relatively rare event for Coffea Arabica because it has more than two copies of each chromosome — a phenomenon called polyploidy."
Since polyploidy is defined as having more than two copies of chromosomes, and the passage confirms Coffea Arabica has multiple copies, the statement "It displays the phenomenon of polyploidy" is directly supported and true.
2. Evaluating the other options based on the text:
• "Hybridization is the main source of its genetic variation": This is incorrect because the passage states: "As a result, Coffea Arabica’s main source of single nucleotide variation is mutation...".
• "It has only two copies of each chromosome.": This is incorrect because the text notes that "Coffea Canephora has two copies of each chromosome, but Coffea Arabica contains multiple copies."
• "It is easily interbred with other species.": This is incorrect because having multiple copies of chromosomes "makes it much more difficult for Arabica to interbreed with other species."
Therefore, the only true statement about Coffea Arabica is that it displays the phenomenon of polyploidy.
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