A scientist investigates the growth of cloned basil plants.
Clone group A was produced from one parent plant. Clone group B was produced from a parent plant with a different genotype. The plants within each clone group were genetically identical.
The plants were grown for 21 days. Apart from genotype and nitrate supply, all other conditions were kept the same.
| Clone group | Mean increase in shoot height with complete mineral solution / mm | Mean increase in shoot height with solution lacking nitrate ions / mm |
|---|---|---|
| A | 68 | 41 |
| B | 79 | 49 |
Explain how the results support the conclusion that both inherited and environmental factors affect the increase in shoot height.
The investigation is repeated using many plants with different genotypes and a range of nitrate concentrations.
Suggest the pattern of variation expected in the increase in shoot height.
186 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Biology 5.1 Inheritance, covering 5.1.1 The genome, 5.1.2 Environment and phenotype, 5.1.3 Variants and mutations, 5.1.4 How genetic variants influence phenotype, 5.1.5 Asexual and sexual reproduction, 5.1.6 Haploid and diploid, 5.1.7 Meiotic cell division, 5.1.8 Single gene inheritance, 5.1.9 Predicting single gene crosses, 5.1.10 Sex determination, 5.1.11 Multiple gene inheritance, and 5.1.12 Development of our understanding of genetics. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.