Acid rain contains an excess of hydrogen ions (H+). One effect of acid rain is to deplete the soil of plant nutrients such as calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+), and magnesium (Mg2+). Offer a hypothesis to explain why acid rain washes these nutrients from the soil. How might you test your hypothesis?

Why is it important for plants to exclude certain ions? Summarize the difference between active and passive exclusion mechanisms.

If the apples you buy are labeled 'organic,' does that tell you anything about how they were grown? About the nutritional content of the apples?

There is a conflict between van Helmont's data on willow tree growth and the data on essential nutrients listed in Table 36.1. According to the table, nutrients other than C, H, and O should make up about 4 percent of a willow tree's mass. Most or all of these nutrients should come from soil. But van Helmont claimed that the soil in his experiment lost just 60 g, while the tree gained 74,000 g. Calculate the percentage of the added mass accounted for by soil, and compare it to the predicted 4 percent. State at least one hypothesis to explain the conflict between expected and observed results. How would you test this hypothesis?

DRAW IT Draw a simple sketch of cation exchange, showing a root hair, a soil particle with anions, and a hydrogen ion displacing a mineral cation.

SCIENTIFIC THINKING One of the most important properties of proper scientific investigations is their repeatability. Yet, as discussed in Module 32.11, studies that compare the nutritional content of conventional and organic produce sometimes produce contradictory results. Name some possible confounding factors that can account for such uneven results.

Toxins like αα-amanitin are used for research in much the same way as null mutants (Chapter 16)—to disrupt a process and see what happens when it no longer works. Researchers examined the ability of αα-amanitin to inhibit different RNA polymerases. They purified RNA polymerases I, II, and III from rat liver, incubated the enzymes with different concentrations of αα-amanitin, and then tested their activity. The results of this experiment are shown here. These findings suggest that cells treated with αα-amanitin will have a reduced level of:a. tRNAsb. rRNAsc. snRNAsd. mRNAs

If you wanted to use αα-amanitin to shut down 95 percent of transcription by RNA polymerase II, roughly what concentration of αα-amanitin would you use? Note that the scale on the x-axis of the graph in Question 13 is logarithmic rather than linear, so that each tick mark shows a tenfold higher concentration.

How might roots react when they encounter a region of the soil that is low in nitrates?