Karnataka Board

Biology

Class 12

1. This question paper consists of four parts A, B, C, and D, part D of two sections section
1 and section.
2. All the parts are compulsory.
3. Draw diagrams wherever necessary unlabeled diagrams for any illustrations do not
attract any marks.

PART –A

Answer the following question in one word or one sente4nce each. (1× 10 =10)

1) What is implantation?

Ans: Implantation happens early in the pregnancy stage after the fertilized egg (zygote)
travels down the fallopian tube to the uterus and adheres to the epithelium, or uterine lining.

2) What the restriction site of EcoRI enzyme.

Ans: EcoRI is a restriction enzyme that cleaves DNA double helices into fragments at specific
sites. It is also a part of the restriction modification system.

3) Define totipotency.

Ans: A cell or part having the potential for developing in various specialized ways in
response to external or internal stimuli.

4) Mention the role of methanobacterium in rumen of cattle.

Ans: The role of methanobacterium involves converting carbon dioxide and hydrogen in
the ruminant’s gut into methane through the fermentation of cellulose. This assists the
breakdown of cellulose and aids digestion for the ruminant host.

5) What is foetal ejection reflex?

Ans: Extremely high levels of adrenaline during late labour can trigger the fetal ejection
reflex. This surge triggers strong, rapid contractions which move the baby from the uterus
and into the birth canal.

6) Define saltation.

Ans: Saltation is a sudden and large mutational change from one generation to the next,
potentially causing single-step speciation.

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 7) Name the type of antibodies produced during allergy.

Ans: Immunoglobulin E (IgE) are antibodies produced by the immune system during allergy.

8) What are Eurythermal organism .

Ans: Eurythermal organisms are organisms that can function at a wide range of different body
temperatures. For example, a goldfish can function with a body temperature ranging from 5 to 30
degrees C.

9) Define bio magnification.

Ans: The increasing concentration of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of
organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain is called Biomagnification

10) Write the name of toxic substance responsible for fever and chills in malaria.

Ans: Fever and chills in malariais a caused by a protozoan called Plasmodium.

PART - B

Answer any five of the following questions in three to five sentences each wherever
applicable.

11) What are homogametic and heterogametes.

Ans Heterogametic means the two sex chromosomes of the organism are different (XY)
whereas homogametic means that the two sex chromosomes of the organism are the same
(XX). Heterogamete sex produces two different gametes, while the homogametic sex
produces identical gametes.

12) Mention any two examples of evolution by anthropogenic action.

Ans: New species evolve in a short time scale of months or years due to anthropogenic
actions or human activities. This hastens the evolutionary process.

For example, during post industrialization period in England, the tree trunks were covered by
dust, coal particles and thus became dark. On such trunks, white moths could be easily
picked up leaving the dark-peppered moths.

Due to excessive use of antibiotics or herbicides, new resistance varieties of organisms

appeared. These resistant varieties got selected over the non-resistant varieties.

13) Distinguish between homozygous and heterogeneous plants.

Ans: The main difference between homozygous and heterozygous is that homozygous
individuals carry two identical alleles whereas heterozygous individuals carry both dominant

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and recessive allele. The self-breeding between homozygous individuals produces offspring
with the same trait over generations. But, self-breeding between heterozygous individuals
produces all possible traits that belong to that particular gene.

14) What is innate immunity? Mention any two types of innate immunity barriers.

Ans: Innate immunity is inherited by the organism from the parents and protects it from birth
throughout life. isa immune system that provide immediate defense against infections. For
example humans have innate immunity against distemper, a fatal disease of dogs. Innate
immunity consists of four types of barriers— physical, physiological, cellular and cytokine
barriers

15) What are the important components of quality farm management?

Ans: Four important components of poultry farm management are followings:

1) Selection of disease free and suitable breeds.

2) Proper and safe farm conditions.

3) Proper food and water.

4) Maintenance of hygiene and health care.

16) Write the methods to introduce alien DNA into host cell.

Ans: In a chromosome there is a specific DNA sequence called the origin of replication,
which is responsible for initiating replication. Therefore, for the multiplication of any alien
piece of DNA in an organism it needs to be a part of a chromosome(s) which has a specific
sequence known as ‘origin of replication’. Thus, an alien DNA is linked with the origin of
replication, so that, this alien piece of DNA can replicate and multiply itself in the host
organism. This can also be called as cloning or making multiple identical copies of any
template DNA.

17) Define endemics .Name any two regions of accelerated Habitat loss in India.

Ans: Endemic plants and animals are those that are unique to a specific geographic region.
This makes them incredibly special and more vulnerable to extinction. Because they are only
found in certain locations, they require special conservation efforts

Habitat loss is occurred for many reasons, but in the highly populated countries like India,
the main reason is environmental hazards. Examples in India:

1) Kerala: Due to the recent floods in the Kerala region, the normal population had decreased
significantly.

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 2) Ladakh: Due to the previously happened natural disasters in this region, the normal
population had also decreased here.

18) Invasion of alien animal species eliminates the native animal species give two
example.

Ans: Example of Invasion of alien animal species are followings.

The black or ship rat, of Eurasian origin is the most significant invasive mammal species in
Africa. It is an indiscriminate feeder, causing massive economic losses throughout Africa and
worldwide by consuming and contaminating foodstuffs (e.g. crops, seeds and seedlings, fruits,
etc.) and animal feed.

The Indian house crow was introduced to the east coast of Africa over a century ago, has spread
to coastal towns on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. It is still spreading inland. They form large
flocks around human habitation where they negatively impact on human health, public amenities,
poultry and native bird populations.

PART – C

Answer any five of the following questions in about 40 to 80 words each wherever
applicable.

19) Mention the vegetative propagules of the following plants:

Ans: Water hyacinth - Vegetative Propagules we refer to a part of the plant that becomes
detached from the rest of the plant and grows into a new one. The vegetative
propagulespresent in water hyacinth are offset.

Agave - The vegetative propagules present in agave are bulbils and in water hyacinth are
offset.

Banana. - The vegetative propagules present in Banana is rhizome.

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 20) Draw a neat labelled diagram of T.S. of young anther.

T.S. ANTHER

21) Describe haplo-diploid sex determination system in honey bees.

Ans: In honeybees the drones (males) are entirely derived from the queen, their mother. The
diploid queen has 32 chromosomes and the haploid drones have 16 chromosomes. Drones
produce sperm cells that contain their entire genome, so the sperm are all genetically identical
except for mutations. The male bees' genetic makeup is therefore entirely derived from the
mother, while the genetic makeup of the female worker bees is half derived from the mother, and
half from the father.[12] Thus, if a queen bee mates with only one drone, any two of her
daughters will share, on average, 3/4 of their genes. The diploid queen's genome is recombined
for her daughters, but the haploid father's genome is inherited by his daughters "as is".

22) State Hardy weinberg principle of genetic equilibrium. Write any four factors affecting
the equilibrium.

Ans: Hardy Weinberg’s principle states that allele frequencies in a population are stable and is
constant from generation to generation.

Four factors known to affect Hardy Weinberg equilibrium are:

Genetic migration - When migrations of a selection of population to another place occur, gene
frequencies change in the original as well as the new population. New genes/alleles are added to
the new population and these are lost from the population.

Genetic drift - It deals with the gene frequency of a reproducing small population. In a small
population not all the alleles, representatives of that species may be present. Thus the inheritance
process is in violation of Hardy-Weinberg law.

 Mutation: Mutations are considered as raw materials for evolution. They help to create
and provide variations in a population along with genetic recombinations.
 Genetic recombination-During meiosis, due to crossing over of chromosomes, genetic
arrangements get altered.

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23) Write a short note on ecosystem services.

Ans: Living things perform a waste of ecological services that help maintain life natural systems
and moderate conditions on our planet. They provide the oxygen that we breathe and food that
we eat. They remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere. They generate
clouds and bring rainfall to moderate our climate .They help fertilize earth soil, pollinated our
crops .The ecological services performed by earth biota have economic, medical, genetic,
agriculture, climate and survival values.

24) Sketch the diagrammatic representation of the replication of retrovirus inside and
Animal cell.

REPLICATION OF RETROVIRUS

25) What is ecological succession? How hydrarch succession is different from Xerach
succession?

Ans: Ecological succession is the process by which the structure of a biological community
evolves over time. Two different types of succession—primary and secondary—have been
distinguished. Primary succession occurs in essentially lifeless areas—regions in which the soil
is incapable of sustaining life as a result of such factors as lava flows, newly formed sand dunes,
or rocks left from a retreating glacier. Secondary succession occurs in areas where a community
that previously existed has been removed; it is typified by smaller-scale disturbances that do not
eliminate all life and nutrients from the environment.

Xerach succession is initiated in very dry situations and climates. Hydrach succession takes place
on very wet land or in water.

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26) Draw a neat labeled diagram of plasmid pBR322.

pBR322

Part- D

Section 1

Answer any four of the following questions in about 200 to 250 words each wherever
applicable. (4×5 =20)

27) Draw and describe the structure of a mature embryo sac of angiosperms.

Ans: A typical embryo sac is ellipsoidal in structure with tapering ends and it is made up of
cellulosic cell wall. In an embryo-sac three cells are grouped together at the micropylar end and
constitute the egg apparatus. The egg apparatus is consist of two synergids and one egg cell. The
synergids have cellular thickenings at the micropylar tip called filiform apparatus, which plays
an important role in guiding the pollen tubes into the synergids. Three cells are at the chalazal
end and are called antipodal. Embryo sac is present at the centre of the nucellus of the ovule. It is
seven celled and eight nucleated structure which is composed of three celled egg apparatus, three
antipodals and a bi nucleated central cell or secondary nucleus.

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28) Draw a neat labeled diagrammatic sectional view of female reproductive system.

FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

29) Explain the inheritance of one gene with reference to stem height of the garden pea
plant.

Ans: Mendel’s first experiments explain how a single gene segregates in inheritance. When
Mendel crossed a true breeding tall plant (female parent) with a true breeding plant of the dwarf
variety (male parent), he got tall plants like one parent in the first filial generation designated
F1.S elf fertilization of the F1 hybrids produced the second filial generation. Tall and dwarf
plants appeared in F2 in the proportion of is 3:1.He used the term “dominant” for the tall
character which dominated in the F1 generation, and “recessive” for the character of dwarfness
which remained hidden (latent) in the F1 generation.

30) a. What are features of an ideal contraceptive? (2)

Ans: Features of an ideal contraceptive are:

 It must be easy to use both for male and female.

 It must provide protection against STDs.
 It should not cause any side effects.
 It must be easily removable if the couple wants to conceive in the future.

b) Mention the natural methods of contraception . (3)

Ans: Withdrawal is a birth control method when the penis is removed from the vagina before
ejaculation. The basal body temperature method involves observing a woman’s temperature
every morning. Because a woman’s temperature drops about 1°F 12 to 24 hours before her ovary
releases an egg, this indicates a period of high fertility. One should abstain from intercourse
during this time to avoid pregnancy.

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31) Explain the following terms.

a) Inbreeding depression.

Ans: Inbreeding depression refers to decrease or loss of vigor and fertility as a result of
inbreeding. The main effect of inbreeding depression results in the increase in the homozygous
in the progeny, which is proportionate to the degree of inbreeding.

b) Interbreeding Hybridization:

Ans: Hybridization is the process of interbreeding between individuals of different species

(interspecific hybridization) or genetically divergent individuals from the same species
(intraspecific hybridization). Offspring produced by hybridization may be fertile, partially fertile,
or sterile.

c) Biofortification: it can be defined as a process to increase the bioavailability and the

concentration of nutrients in crops through both conventional plant breeding and recombinant
DNA technology.

d) Micro propagation--It is the practice of rapidly multiplying stock plant material to produce a
large number of progeny plants, using modern plant tissue culture methods

e)Soma clones.

The plants produced, that are genetically identical to the original (parent) plant are known as
Soma clones

32) Explain the regulation of Lac Operon in absence and presence of lactose as an inducer.

In the absence of an inducer such as allolactose or IPTG, the lacI gene is transcribed and the
resulting repressor protein binds to the operator site of the lac operon, Olac, and prevents
transcription of the lacZ, lacY and lacA genes.

In the presence of an inducer during induction, the inducer binds to the repressor. This causes a
change in conformation of the repressor that greatly reduces its affinity for the lac operator site.
The lac repressor now dissociates from the operator site and allows the RNA polymerase
(already in place on the adjacent promoter site) to begin transcribing the lacZ, lacY and lacA
genes. They are transcribed to yield a single polycistronic mRNA that is then translated to
produce all three enzymes in large amounts.

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 Section – II

Answer any three of the following questions in about 200 to 250 words each wherever
applicable. (3× 5 = 15)

33) Oswald Avery and others have continued Griffith transforming principle to prove
DNA as a genetic material. Substantiate.

Ans: Griffith was a British medical officer and geneticist. He discovered what he called a
"transforming principle" that caused inheritance. Oswald and his colleagues, Colin MacLeod and
Maclyn McCarty continued Griffith's research and discovered that DNA is the material of which
genes and chromosomes are made. Avery, MacLeod and McCarty continued Frederick Griffith's
research with their own set of experiments .They used techniques to remove various organic
compounds from bacteria to test how characteristics were inherited. After removing certain
organic compounds, if the remaining organic compounds were still able to cause R strain
bacteria to transform then the substances removed couldn't be the carrier of genes. They thus
tried to identify the source of inheritance through the method of elimination. They first removed
the large cellular structures from the S strain bacteria. Then they treated the bacteria with
protease enzymes, which removed the proteins from the cells. The remainder of the S strain
bacteria was then placed with R strain bacteria. But the R strain bacteria still transformed,
proving that proteins did not carry the genes for causing the disease. When the remnants of the R
strain bacteria were treated with a deoxyribonuclease enzyme which removed the DNA, the R
strain bacteria no longer transformed. This indicated that DNA was the carrier of genes in cells.

34) Describe the role of microbes in sewage treatment plant.

The role of microorganisms are also important in the treatment of wastewater. What is waste for
humans and higher vertebrates becomes a useful food substrate for the microorganisms. In both
natural and engineered treatment systems microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and
crustaceans play an essential role in the conversion of organic waste to more stable less polluting
substances.

35) One of the applications of biotechnology is to get pest resistant plants.Justify the
statement with reference to BT Cotton.

Ans: Biotechnology can be broadly defined as using organisms or their products for commercial
purposes. One example of modern biotechnology is genetic engineering .Some of the
applications of biotechnology in agriculture are the production of pest registered plants which
decrease the amount of pesticides used.

BT toxin is produced by by the bacterium and expressed in plants to provide resistance to insect.
in effect created a bio pesticides for example BT Cotton, BT corn, Golden rice. BT Cotton is
created by using some strains of bacteria Thuringienesis that produces protein that kill certain
insects such as lepidopterans (Tobacco, budworm and armyworm). BT toxin protein exist in

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inactive protoxin but once and insects ingest the Inactive toxin it is converted into active form of
toxin due to alkaline pH of the gut which solubilized the crystals. The activated toxin bind to the
surface of midgut epithelial cells and create pores that cause the cell swelling and lysis leading to
death of insects. Most BT toxin are insect group specific.
36) What are ectoparasites and endoparasites? (2)
Ans: Parasites which has to live within the body of a life form that is commonly known as a host
are called the endoparasites or because of their living habits, they can be known as the internal
parasites as well. The presence of the endoparasites can be found in lots of different types of
phyla either of the animals or the protists. These are the endoparasites which have the ability to
live in the shape of the intracellular or extracellular environments inside their host. The term of
intracellular parasites describes the living habits of these sorts of parasites because they live
inside the cell bodies. The malaria parasite is the best example of the intercellular parasites as
they live in the human red blood cells. On the other side, the extracellular parasite have the
capability of living in the body tissues of their hosts. The Trichinella is the example of the
extracellular parasites seeing that it lives inside the muscle tissue.

Parasites which live on the body surface of an organism are known as the external parasites
commonly called the Ectoparasites. Ectoparasites are found in both the plants and animals. The
main target of the Ectoparasites is to suck the blood of the living things or take the juices of their
hosts for their survival. The Ectoparasites can feed on living tissue as well. The animal
Ectoparasites mostly suck the bold of their hosts while the plant Ectoparasites have to rely of the
juices. The major examples of the human ectoparasites are the louse, rat flea, ticks, and itch mite

OR

List any three parasitic adaptations in animal. (3)

Ans: Parasitic adaptation in animal -

 In order to lead a parasitic life complete or partial degeneration or loss of organs has
taken place in the body of helminthes parasites. Such degeneration are found especially in
those organs which are of little or no use to the parasite.
 The helminthes parasites have attained certain special structures which help them adjust
well within the body of their host.
 The endoparasites has to face the changing chemical environment inside the body of their
host, hence are adapted to exhibit the phenomenon of chemotaxis, which allow them to
find their way and respond accordingly.

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37) Write a note on the following.

A) Radioactive waste. (3)

Ans: Radioactive waste is nuclear fuel that is produced after being used inside of a nuclear
reactor. It looks same asit did before it went to nuclear but it changes the compound which is
different. What is left is considered radioactive material and is very dangerous to anyone. This
remains this way for just not a few years but for thousands of years .It must be handled in right
manner because it can cause a ton of devastation in the world it could take just a second to die
from exposure to radioactive materials .It ivate is a kind of waste in gas liquid solid form that
contain radioactive nucleus substance

(B) Joint forest management (2)

Ans: JFM is defined as a concept of developing partnerships between fringe forest user groups
and the Forest Department (FD) .On the basis of mutual trust and jointly defined roles and
responsibilities for forest protection and development. It is a forest management strategy under
which the Government which is represented by the Forest Department, and the village
community enter into an agreement to jointly protect and manage forestlands adjoining villages
and to share responsibilities and benefits.

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