Free Biodiversity and Variety of Life MCQs with Answers

3,130 Biodiversity and Variety of Life MCQs from Biology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.

Biological classification uses taxonomic ranks, binomial nomenclature and shared characteristics to organize life into kingdoms. The major groups include prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants and animals, with comparisons based on cell type, cell wall, nutrition, body organization, reproduction and evolutionary relationships; prokaryotes lack a membrane-bound nucleus.

Last updated

Read the Biodiversity and Variety of Life notesFree MDCAT chapter notes with key terms

3,130 questions · page 29 of 157

  • A. Receptor site
  • B. Cell wall
  • C. Cell membrane
  • D. Capsule

Explanation: The answer is "Receptor site." Explanation: Being obligate parasites, viruses require a receptor site on the host surface for attachment.

Correct answer: Receptor site
  • A. W.M Stanley
  • B. Ivanowsky
  • C. Chamberland
  • D. Twort

Explanation: The answer is "Ivanowsky."Explanation: Ivanovsky took bacteri-free extract from infected tobacco leaves and sprinkled it over healthy…

Correct answer: Ivanowsky
  • A. Tail
  • B. Base plate
  • C. Capsid
  • D. Genome

Explanation: The capsid is the protein shell that surrounds and protects the viral genome, and it plays a crucial role in giving the virion its…

Correct answer: Capsid
  • A. DNA
  • B. RNA
  • C. Enzymes
  • D. Metabolic machinery

Explanation: The answer is "metabolic machinery."Explanation: Viruses are acellular entities and lack biosynthetic machinery for their replication.

Correct answer: Metabolic machinery
  • A. Chemical nature
  • B. Type of subunits
  • C. Number of subunits
  • D. Role in the life cycle

Explanation: The answer is "Number of subunits."Explanation: Herpes virus has 162 capsomeres, whereas adenovirus has 252 capsomeres.

Correct answer: Number of subunits
  • A. 70
  • B. 80
  • C. 90
  • D. 100

Explanation: Adenoviruses and herpesviruses are both icosahedral viruses, but they differ in the number of capsomeres present in their capsids.

Correct answer: 90
  • A. Its own metabolism
  • B. Metabolism of its host organism
  • C. Metabolism of its host cell
  • D. None of these

Explanation: The answer is "Metabolism of its host cell"Explanation: Viruses are acellular entities having no cellular/metabolic machinery.

Correct answer: Metabolism of its host cell
  • A. Fungi
  • B. Bacteria
  • C. Protozoan
  • D. Virus

Explanation: Rabies is caused by a virus (Lyssavirus), which infects nerve cells and travels to the brain, leading to fatal neurological symptoms.

Correct answer: Virus
  • A. Nucleic acid only
  • B. Proteins only
  • C. Nucleic acid & Protein
  • D. None of these

Explanation: Viruses are acellular entities composed of genetic material, which can be either DNA or RNA but never both.

Correct answer: Nucleic acid & Protein
  • A. B-lymphocyte
  • B. T-Lymphocyte
  • C. Helper T-Lymphocyte
  • D. Suppressor T Lymphocyte

Explanation: The major cells infected by HIV are CD4+ T lymphocytes (helper T cells), which play a central role in coordinating the immune response.

Correct answer: Helper T-Lymphocyte
  • A. HIV
  • B. Influenza
  • C. Mumps
  • D. All of These

Explanation: HIV is a retrovirus because it contains RNA as its genome and uses the enzyme reverse transcriptase to convert this RNA into DNA, which…

Correct answer: HIV
  • A. Do not have sex organs.
  • B. Lack of genetic material.
  • C. Lack of cellular machinery to use its genetic material.
  • D. None of these

Explanation: Viruses cannot multiply on their own because they lack the cellular machinery required for independent life processes.

Correct answer: Lack of cellular machinery to use its genetic material.
  • A. Prophages
  • B. DNA
  • C. RNA
  • D. Both A and B

Explanation: The viral genome, when incorporated and integrated into the bacterial genome, is referred to as a prophage.

Correct answer: Prophages
  • A. Biology
  • B. Virology
  • C. Cytology
  • D. Taxonomy

Explanation: The branch of science that deals with the study of viruses is called virology.

Correct answer: Virology
  • A. Cholera
  • B. Influenza
  • C. Hepatitis
  • D. Polio

Explanation: Cholera is not caused by a virus but by a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae.

Correct answer: Cholera
  • A. Pox virus
  • B. Bacteriophages
  • C. Adenovirus
  • D. Herpes Virus

Explanation: Bacteriophages, the viruses that infect bacteria, were discovered independently by Frederick W.

Correct answer: Bacteriophages
  • A. Animal
  • B. Bacterial
  • C. Plant
  • D. Fungi

Explanation: A bacteriophage replicates only in a bacterial cell. This is because bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect bacteria, and…

Correct answer: Bacterial
  • A. DNA non-enveloped virus
  • B. RNA non-enveloped virus
  • C. DNA Enveloped Virus
  • D. RNA-Enveloped Virus

Explanation: The smallpox virus (Variola virus) has a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome, which is large and linear, encoding all the proteins needed…

Correct answer: DNA Enveloped Virus
  • A. T-lymphocytes
  • B. Helper T-lymphocytes
  • C. B-lymphocytes
  • D. HIV

Explanation: CD4 receptors are primarily present on the surface of CD4+ T lymphocytes (helper T cells), which play a central role in coordinating the…

Correct answer: Helper T-lymphocytes
  • A. Lipids
  • B. DNA
  • C. RNA
  • D. Protein

Explanation: HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is an enveloped retrovirus with a complex structure that reflects its unique characteristics.

Correct answer: DNA