asexual-reproduction-and-vegetative-propagation MCQs for UPSC Prelims

28 practice questions on asexual-reproduction-and-vegetative-propagation from the Reproduction: How Life Continues section of the UPSC Prelims syllabus. 28 come with a written explanation. Try the sample set below - the answer stays hidden until you ask for it.

8 Easy 14 Medium 6 Hard

Sample questions

Q1
medium
A science club keeps one hydra in a jar of pond water. No second hydra is ever added, yet two weeks later the jar holds several small hydras. What does this best show?
  1. A The small hydras hatched from eggs laid earlier by two parents
  2. B Hydra can reproduce asexually, so one parent is enough
  3. C A male hydra must already have been hidden in the pond water
  4. D Hydra splits into many individuals only when food runs out
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B - Hydra can reproduce asexually, so one parent is enough

New individuals appeared although only one parent was present, which is exactly what asexual reproduction means. A hidden male or eggs from two parents would both make this sexual reproduction, and nothing was added to the jar. Shortage of food is not the trigger; hydra buds most readily when conditions are good.
Q2
easy
Potato and ginger have thickened underground stems from which new shoots and roots sprout, without any seed being formed. Reproduction of this kind is called:
  1. A Pollination
  2. B Vegetative propagation
  3. C Seed dispersal
  4. D External fertilisation
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B - Vegetative propagation

When a new plant grows from a vegetative part such as a stem, root or leaf, the process is vegetative propagation. Pollination is the transfer of pollen to a stigma, and external fertilisation is the fusion of gametes outside an animal's body, so neither fits a sprouting tuber. Seed dispersal is the scattering of seeds, and no seeds are involved here.
Q3
medium
Assertion (A): A Bryophyllum leaf that falls on moist soil can give rise to several new plants. Reason (R): The plantlets on a Bryophyllum leaf are formed by the fusion of a male gamete and a female gamete.
  1. A Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
  2. B Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
  3. C A is true, but R is false
  4. D A is false, but R is true
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - A is true, but R is false

A fallen Bryophyllum leaf really can give rise to many new plants from the plantlets on its margins, so (A) is true. (R) is false: these plantlets grow by cell division on a single parent leaf, with no gametes and no fusion, which is why they are identical to the parent. Since (R) is false, it cannot be an explanation of (A), correct or otherwise.
Q4
medium
Assertion (A): All the potato plants raised from pieces of a single potato tuber carry the same characters. Reason (R): Asexual reproduction involves one parent only, and the offspring are genetically identical to that parent.
  1. A Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
  2. B Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
  3. C A is true, but R is false
  4. D A is false, but R is true
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A - Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Pieces of one tuber sprout by asexual reproduction, so every plant is a copy of the same parent and shows the same characters, making (A) true. (R) states the general rule behind this, so it is true and it is exactly the reason (A) holds. Neither statement is false, and (R) is not an unrelated fact here.
Q5
medium
In hydra, repeated cell division at one particular spot on the parent's body raises a small outgrowth. What happens to this outgrowth after that?
  1. A It stays joined for life and shares the parent's food permanently
  2. B It divides the parent's body into two equal halves
  3. C It shrinks back into the parent once the parent has finished growing
  4. D It enlarges and then separates from the parent to live on its own
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - It enlarges and then separates from the parent to live on its own

In budding, the bud grows bigger and then detaches, and the new hydra lives independently. It does not shrink back, and it does not remain permanently attached, since hydra can carry several buds at once and each leaves in turn. Splitting the parent into two equal halves is a different pattern altogether and is not what a bud does.
Q6
hard
Yeast is a single-celled organism and hydra is a multicellular animal, yet reproduction in both is called budding. What justifies giving the two the same name?
  1. A In both, the outgrowth appears only after a spore lands on the parent
  2. B In both, the parent's body is completely used up in making the new individual
  3. C In both, two parents contribute genetic material to the outgrowth
  4. D In both, an outgrowth forms on a single parent and grows into a new individual
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - In both, an outgrowth forms on a single parent and grows into a new individual

The name describes the pattern, not the size of the organism: one parent, an outgrowth, and a new individual. The parent is not used up in either case, and neither yeast nor hydra needs a second parent, since budding is asexual. Spores play no part in budding; they are a separate way in which fungi such as bread mould reproduce.
Q7
easy
A student watching yeast cells from a warm sugar solution under a microscope sees small rounded outgrowths on the parent cells. Which method of reproduction is she watching?
  1. A Fertilisation
  2. B Seed germination
  3. C Pollination
  4. D Budding
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - Budding

A small outgrowth that forms on a parent cell and grows into a new individual is a bud, so this is budding. Pollination is the transfer of pollen to a stigma and fertilisation is the fusion of two gametes, and yeast is doing neither. Germination is a seed sprouting, and yeast makes no seeds.
Q8
medium
Plantlets form on Bryophyllum leaves, shoots sprout from a potato tuber, and a sugarcane stem piece grows into a plant. What do these three have in common?
  1. A In each, pollen must reach a stigma before growth begins
  2. B In each, a new plant grows from a vegetative part of one parent plant
  3. C In each, a seed is formed first and then germinates
  4. D In each, two parent plants are needed
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B - In each, a new plant grows from a vegetative part of one parent plant

Leaf, underground stem and stem cutting are all vegetative parts, and in each case one parent gives rise to a new plant. No seed is formed in any of the three, so no seed germinates. Only one parent is involved, and pollination plays no part, since these are asexual processes.

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