1 Practice Paper

[Time Allowed: 3 Hours] [Maximum Marks: 70]

General Instructions:
(i) All questions are compulsory.
(ii) The question paper has five sections and 33 questions. All questions are compulsory.
(iii) Section–A has 16 questions of 1 mark each; Section–B has 5 questions of 2 marks each; Section–C has 7 questions
of 3 marks each; Section–D has 2 case-based questions of 4 marks each; and Section–E has 3 questions of 5 marks
each.
(iv) There is no overall choice. However, internal choices have been provided in some questions. A student has to attempt
only one of the alternatives in such questions.
(v) Wherever necessary, neat and properly labelled diagrams should be drawn.

SECTION – A
1. Which of the following statements indicates parallelism in genes and chromosomes?
(i) They occur in pairs (ii) They segregate during gamete formation
(iii) They show linkage (iv) Independent pairs segregate independently
(a) (i) and (iii) (b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i), (ii) and (iii) (d) (i), (ii) and (iv)
2. Which of the following is not a physiological barrier of innate immunity?
(a) Acid in the gastric juice
(b) Mucus coating of epithelium of digestive and respiratory tract
(c) Tear in the eyes
(d) Saliva in the mouth
3. GIFT is an ART used for those females, who
(a) cannot conceive normally.
(b) cannot produce a functional ovum, but can provide suitable environment for fertilisation and embryo development.
(c) cannot provide suitable environment for fertilisation and embryo develop, but can produce a functional ovum.
(d) All of the above.
4. The construction of the first recombinant DNA was achieved by using the native plasmid of
(a) Escherichia coli (b) Agrobacterium tumefaciens
(c) Salmonella typhimurium (d) Bacillus thuringiensis
5. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
(a) Genetically engineered insulin is produced in E.coli.
(b) In man, insulin in synthesised as proinsulin.
(c) The proinsulin has three peptide chains, A, B and C.
(d) The functional insulin has two peptide chains, A and B held together by hydrogen bonds.
 6. The population of an insect species shows an explosive increase in number during rainy season, followed by its
disappearance at the end of the season. Which of the following is the correct inference of this observation?
(a) The food plants flourish during rainy season and die at the end of season.
(b) The population growth curve of the insect is J shaped.
(c) The population growth curve of the insect is sigmoid.
(d) The population of predators must have increased.
7. Which of the following statements regarding the pyramid of energy is incorrect?
(a) The base tier has the maximum amount of energy.
(b) It shows the energy content in different trophic levels.
(c) Only 10 per cent of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next higher trophic level.
(d) It is inverted in sea ecosystem.
8. During the menstrual phase of the menstrual cycle, the endometrial lining and its blood vessels disintegrate causing
menstruation to occur; it is caused by
(a) lack of progesterone
(b) excess secretion of luteinising hormone (LH)
(c) lack of estrogens
(d) excess secretion of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)
9. Which among the following is not a method of in-situ conservation?
(a) National Park (b) Botanical garden
(c) Wildlife sanctuary (d) Ramsar sites
10. Select the correct statement from the following.
(a) Toddy is made by fermenting the sap of palms.
(b) Brandy having high alcohol content is produced without distillation.
(c) Wine and beer are produced after distillation.
(d) Citric acid is produced by using the bacterium, Clostridium.
11. In an expanding or growing population of a country
(a) pre-reproductive individuals are more than the reproductive individuals.
(b) reproductive individuals are less than the post-reproductive individuals.
(c) pre-reproductive individuals are less than the reproductive individuals.
(d) reproductive and pre-reproductive individuals are equal in number.
12. Observe structures A and B given below. Which of the following statements are correct?
5’ 5’
HOCH2 O OH HOCH2 O OH
4’ C H H C 1’ 4’ C H H C 1’
3’ 2’ 3’ 2’
H C C H H C C H

OH OH OH H
A B
(a) A is having 2’–OH group which makes it less reactive and structurally stable, whereas B is having 2’–H group
which makes it more reactive and unstable.
(b) A is having 2’–OH group which makes it more reactive and structurally unstable, whereas B is having 2’–H group
which makes it less reactive and structurally stable.
(c) A and B both have –OH groups which make it more reactive and structurally stable.
(d) A and B both are having –OH groups which make them less reactive and structurally stable
Question No. 13 to 16 consist of two statements – Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Answer these questions selecting the
appropriate option given below:
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
13. Assertion (A): Genetic drift is the change in allele frequencies in a population due to some chance events and forms an
important factor for evolution.
Reason (R): Smaller populations have greater chances for genetic drift.
14. Assertion (A): In an aquatic/marine ecosystem, the pyramid of biomass is always inverted.
Reason (R): In the aquatic/marine ecosystem, the biomass of phytoplanktons/producers at any given time is lower than
the biomass of the consumers like fishes.
15. Assertion (A): Self-pollen cannot effect fertilisation in self-incompatible pistil.
Reason (R): Self-incompatibility prevents the germination of pollen grains or retard the growth of pollen tube.
16. Assertion (A): During gel electrophoresis, DNA moves towards the anode.
Reason (R): DNA is positively charged.

SECTION – B
17. What is palaeontology? How does palaeontological evidence support evolution of organisms on the Earth?
18. Explain the fate of inner cell mass in a human embryo immediately after implantation.
19. Why are sacred groves highly protected?
Or
‘It is possible that a species may occupy more than one trophic level in the same ecosystem at the same time’. Explain
with the help of an example.
20. List any four ways by which GMO’s have been useful for enhanced crop output.
21. Trace the life cycle of the malarial parasite in the body of Anopheles.

SECTION – C
22. (a) Bring out the differences between a secondary follicle and a tertiary follicle in a human ovary.
(b) What stimulates the pituitary to release the hormone responsible for parturition? Name the hormone.
23. What are Cry proteins? Name an organism that produces it. How has man exploited this protein to his benefit?
24. Explain the role of RNA polymerase in transcription in bacteria.
25. How can childless couples be helped by the following Assisted Reproductive Technologies?
(a) GIFT (b) ICSI
26. It is generally believed that competition occurs only when closely related species compete for the same resources that are
limiting. Give two examples to show that the above statement is not always true.
27. Study the diagram given below:
5′ phosphate
H Z
H
H 3′ hydroxyl
P C H
P C
P C
H P C
Y H OH
H
H
A T
G C
X

Name the linkages X, Y, Z and the respective molecules formed by them.

 28. Given below is a list of three microorganisms. State their usefulness to humans.
(a) Saccharomyces cerevisiae (b) Trichoderma polysporum
(c) Propionibacterium sharmanii
Or
(a) Name the causative agent of typhoid in humans.
(b) Name the test administered to confirm the disease.
(c) How does the pathogen gain entry into the human body? Write the diagnostic symptoms and mention the body organ
that gets affected in severe cases.

SECTION – D
Question No. 29 and 30 are case – based questions. Each question has subparts with internal choice in one subpart.
29. Development of recombinant technology has enabled scientists to isolate DNA sequences and manipulate individual
genes from diverse cells. Given below is a diagram showing the basic steps involved in genetically modifying an
organism. Study the given diagram and answer the questions that follow:
5

1 Restriction Enzyme

(Gene of Interest) 4
3

2 Restriction (X)
Enzyme
E.coli
rDNA
(Vector)

Plasmid
(Vector)
(Y)
(a) Name the enzyme used at step X to integrate the foreign DNA with the vector DNA.
(b) What is the term given for Y showing multiple copies of the foreign DNA in E.coli cells?
(c) Are two different types of restriction enzymes used-one to cut the vector DNA and another to cut the desired DNA
to be cloned? Justify your answer with reason.
Or
(c) Explain palindromic nucleotide sequence with the help of a suitable example.
30. The cytological observations made during gamete formation in a number of insects, led to the development of the
concept of genetic/chromosomal basis of sex determination mechanisms in Drosophila, grasshopper, honey bees, etc.
Honey bee is an interesting example to study the mechanism of sex determination. Study the schematic representation of
the cross between a male and a female honey bee given below and answer the questions that follow:
Parents : Female Male
Honey bee honey bee
(32 chromosomes)

A B

Gametes Gametes

C Fertilisation

Offspring : Male Female

Honey bee Honey bee
(32 chromosomes)
 (a) What forms the basis of sex determination in honey bees? What term is given to this method of sex determination?
(b) Identify the type of cell division at ‘A’ and ‘B’ occuring during gamete formation in the female and male honey bees
respectively.
(c) Name the scientist who conducted the cytological studies during gametogenesis in insects. What did he observe?
Or
(c) How many chromosomes does a male honey bee possesses? Give reason for the difference in the number of
chromosomes between males and females of honey bees.

SECTION – E
31. (a) Describe the process of megasporogenesis in an angiosperm.
(b) Draw a diagram of a mature embryo sac of angiosperm. Label its any six parts.
Or
The reproductive cycle in the females of primate mammals (apes, monkeys and humans), is called menstrual cycle.
Menstrual cycles occur during the reproductive phase, i.e., between menarche and menopause in human females. The
cycle starts with menstruation and extends (for about 28 days) till the onset of the next menstruation; it includes four
phases.
(a) Name in proper sequence, the four phases in a menstrual cycle.
(b) How long does the menstrual phase last in a menstrual cycle?
(c) When do the hormones estrogen and progesterone reach their peak levels, respectively, in the menstrual cycle? Give
reasons.
(d) Define ovulation.
32. (a) What is polygenic inheritance? Explain with the help of a suitable example.
(b) How are pleiotropy and Mendelian pattern of inheritance different from polygenic pattern of inheritance?
Or
Describe in detail, the process of translation in bacteria.
33. (a) Define allergy.
(b) Name the cells and the chemicals responsible for causing allergic reactions in our body.
(c) Mention any four symptoms of allergy.
(d) Name two drugs that can alleviate the symptoms of allergy.
Or
Study the picture of the biogas plant given below and answer Gas
the questions that follow.
(a) Name the components gaining entry from C into the
digester.
B
(b) Name the group of bacteria and the condition in which
they act on the components that entered the digester from C A
C.
(c) Name two sites where this group of bacteria is generally
found.
(d) Name the components that get collected in B. What is B?
(e) How is the gas coming out of the plant used?
Digester
 Answers
Section - A
1. (d) 2. (b) 3. (b) 4. (c) 5. (d) 6. (b)
7. (d) 8. (a) 9. (b) 10. (a) 11. (a) 12. (b)
13. (b) 14. (a) 15. (a) 16. (c)

SECTION – B
17. Paleontology is the study of fossils. It indicates:
(i) the geological time period in which the organisms existed.
(ii) that life forms varied over time and certain life forms are restricted to certain geological time spans.
(iii) that new forms of life have appeared at different times in the history of earth.
18. – Immediately after implantation, the inner cell mass of the embryo differentiates into an outer layer, called ectoderm
and an inner layer, called endoderm.
– A middle layer called, mesoderm appears between the ectoderm and the endoderm.
– These three germ layers give rise to all the tissues/organs in adults.
– Certain cells remain as stem cells.
19. – The sacred groves are the last refuges for a large number of rare and threatened species.
– The sacred groves are ecologically unique and biodiversity-rich regions.
– The religious and cultural traditions also emphasise protection of nature; the sacred groves are such forests where all
the plants and the wildlife are venerated and given full protection.
Or
– Man can occupy two different trophic levels.
– When he depends only on vegetarian food (plants), he occupies second trophic level and is a primary consumer.
Plants → Man
– When he eats the flesh of some animals (non-vegetarian food), he occupies the third trophic level, as he is a secondary
consumer.
 Plants → Goat → Man
20. Advantages of GM Plants:
– Genetic modification has made the crops more tolerant to abiotic stresses like cold, heat, drought, salinity, etc.
– It has reduced the dependence of crops on chemical pesticides as they are made pest-resistant.
– Post-harvest losses are much reduced.
– As the plants have increased efficiency of mineral usage, the early exhaustion of fertility of soil is prevented.
– Food produced from GM (Genetically Modified) crops has enhanced nutritional value.
– Genetic modification has been used to create tailor-made plants to supply resources such as starch, fuels, pharmaceuticals,
etc. to industries. (any four)
21. Anopheles picks up the gametocytes along with the blood meal.
↓
Gametocytes reach the intestinal cells of mosquito; fertilisation occurs here.
↓
Zygote develops and produces sporozoites in the intestine.
↓
Sporozoites escape from the intestine and reach the salivary glands, where they remain stored.
 SECTION – C
22. (a) Differences
Secondary follicle Tertiary follicle
– When the primary follicle containing the primary – When a fluid-filled cavity develops around the oocyte
oocyte becomes surrounded by more layers of gran- in the secondary follicle, it is called tertiary follicle.
ulosa cells and a thecal layer, it is called a secondary
follicle.
– The primary oocyte shows little growth. – The primary oocyte grows in size and completes mei-
osis I to form secondary oocyte and first polar body.
(b) – Foetal ejection reflex
– Oxytocin is the hormone.
23. – Cry proteins are the crystal proteins that are toxic to certain insect pests (dipterans, coleopterans and lepidopterans).
– They are produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis.
– Man has isolated the genes encoding these proteins from this bacterium and incorporated into some crop plants; such
crop plants produce the proteins in their cells and are resistant to the attack by these insect pests.
24. – A single DNA-dependent RNA polymerase catalyses the formation of mRNA, tRNA and rRNA in bacteria.
– The enzyme is capable of catalysing only the elongation step of transcription.
– It combines transiently to the initiation or sigma factor and binds to the promoter and initiates transcription.
– It somehow facilitates the opening of the DNA helix and catalyses the polymerisation of ribonucleoside triphosphates
in a template-dependent fashion, i.e. elongation.
– When it reaches the terminator sequence, the enzyme associates transiently with the termination or rho(r) factor and
terminates transcription; the RNA and the enzyme fall off the template.
25. (a) GIFT
– In this method, the ovum obtained from a female is transferred into the fallopian tube of another female for
fertilisaton and further development.
– Embryo transfer is not necessary, as its involves in vivo fertilisation.
(b) ICSI
– It is a technique in which the sperm is directly injected into the cytoplasm of the ovum to form a zygote in the
laboratory conditions.
– Embryo transfer becomes necessary, as it involves in vitro fertilisation.
26. (i) Competition can occur between two unrelated species, when they compete for the same resource, e.g. the visiting
flamingoes compete with the resident fishes for zooplanktons in some shallow lakes in South America.
(ii) Resources need not be limiting; in interference competition, the feeding efficiency of one species might be
reduced due to the interfering and inhibitory presence of the other species, e.g. the Abingdon tortoise became
extinct within a decade after goats were introduced into Galapagos Islands.
27. – X is N-glycosidic linkage; it forms a nucleoside.
– Y is phosphoester linkage; it forms a nucleotide.
– Z is a phosphodiester linkage; it forms a dinucleotide.
28. (a) It is used for fermenting malted cereals and fruit juices to produce ethanol and also in breadmaking.
(b) This fungus produces cyclosporin A, which is used as an immunosuppressive agent in organ-transplant patients.
(c) This bacterium is used in the manufacture of ‘Swiss cheese’; it is responsible for the production of large holes in the
chesse.
Or
(a) Salmonella typhi.
 (b) Widal test.
(c) The pathogen enters the human body through contaminated food and water.

Symptoms
– Symptoms of typhoid include:
(i) sustained high fever (39 – 40 °C)
(ii) loss of appetite
(iii) stomach pain
(iv) headache and weakness
(v) intestinal perforation in severe cases may cause death.
– Intestine gets affected in severe cases.

SECTION – D
29. (a) DNA–ligase
(b) Gene cloning
(c) – The two enzymes are not different; same restriction endonuclease is used to cut the vector DNA and the foreign
DNA.
– When cut by the same restriction enzyme, the resultant fragments will have the same kind of ‘sticky ends’, which
can be joined by the action of DNA ligase.
Or
(c) – A palindrome in DNA is a sequence of base pairs that reads the same on the two strands of DNA, when orientation
of reading is kept the same.
– For example, the palindromic sequence, which is recognised by the restriction endonuclease, EcoRI is given
below, along with the site where it cuts the strands.
5′ – G ↓ A A T T C – 3′
3′ – C T T A A ↑ G – 5′
30. (a) – The number of sets of chromosomes received by an individual forms the basis of sex determination in honey bees.
– It is called haplodiploid system of sex determination.
(b) A – Meiosis
B – Mitosis
(c) – Henking was the scientist.
– He could observe a specific nuclear structure all through spermatogenesis in certain insects.
– He also observed that 50 percent of the sperms received this structure and the other 50 percent did not receive it;
he called it X-body.
Or
(c) – A male honey been develops parthenogenetically (without fertilisation) from an ovum; hence, it has a haploid
number of chromosomes, i.e., 16 chromosomes.
– A female honey bee develops from a fertilised egg; hence, it has a diploid number of chromosome, i.e., 32
chromosomes.

SECTION – E
31. (a) – The megaspore mother cell undergoes meiosis to form four megaspores.
– Three of them degenerate and the functional megaspore enlarges to form the embryo sac.
– Its haploid nucleus undergoes a mitotic division and the two daughter nuclei move towards the opposite poles
forming a two-nucleate embryo sac.
 – Each of them undergoes two successive mitotic divisions, forming the four nucleate and then the eight-nucleate
embryo sac.
– Cell wall formation starts in the 8-nucleate stage.
– Three of them at the micropylar end form the egg apparatus, consisting of a female gamete and two synergids.
– Three of them at the chalazal end form the antipodal cells.
– One nucleus from each of the poles moves to the centre; they are called polar nuclei.
– Later the two polar nuclei fuse in the centre (now the central cell) to form a diploid secondary nucleus.
– Thus, the mature embryo sac is 7-celled and 8-nucleate.
(b)           
Chalazal Antipodal cells
end

Central cell
Fusing polar nuclei

Female gamete
Synergids

Micropylar Filiform apparatus

end
Or
(a) Menstrual phase → Proliferative/Follicular phase → Ovulatory phase → Luteal/Secretory phase
(b) 3-5 days
(c) – Estrogen reaches its peak level towards the end of proliferative phase, just before ovulation; it is because estrogen
is secreted by the follicular cells.
– Progesterone reaches its peak level around the middle of the luteal phase; it is because progesterone is secreted
by the corpus luteum, which is formed after ovulation.
(d) Ovulation is the process of rupture of mature Graafian follicle and the release of the ovum from it.
32. (a) Polygenic inheritance
– In this phenomenon, one character is controlled by three or more genes and each gene contributes to the
phenotype; so it is the additive/cumulative effect of all the genes that is expressed.
– Human skin colour is believed to be controlled by three different genes, A, B and C, where darkness is dominant
over light/fair skin colour.
– In a cross between an individual with the darkest skin (AABBCC) and another individual with the lightest skin
colour (aabbcc), the F1 individuals will have an intermediate skin colour (AaBbCc, heterozygous for all the
genes).
– When two such individuals are crossed, the phenotypic ratio in the F 2 generation will be
1 : 6 : 15 : 20 : 15 : 6 : 1, i.e., the phenotype is dependent upon the number of contributive (dominant) alleles
and is quantitative.

(b) Pleiotropy Mendelian inheritance Polygenic inheritance

– In this, a single gene controls more – Every character is controlled by – Each character is controlled by
than one phenotype. a single gene. two or more genes.
– The F 1 resembles one of the – The F1 offspring resembles the – T h e F 1 o f f s p r i n g s h o w s
parents, i.e., dominant parent. dominant parent. intermediate phenotype, between
the two parents.
– There is no gradation in the – There is no gradation in phenotype. – There is gradation in phenotype.
phenotype.
 Or
– It is the process of polymerisation of amino acids to form a polypeptide.
– The sequence of amino acids is defined by the sequence of bases in mRNA and the amino acids are joined by peptide
bonds.
– The first phase is amino acid activation in the presence of ATP and it is linked to the specific tRNA in the process,
called amino acylation of tRNA or charging of tRNA.
– Translation occurs in the ribosomes; the ribosome exists as a large subunit and a small subunit.
– The mRNA binds to the small subunit of ribosome, in the presence of initiation factors; the AUG codon is recognised
by the initiator tRNA.
– The elongation phase continues, when the ribosome moves from codon to codon along mRNA and amino acids are
added one by one.
– In bacteria, the ribozyme (23S, rRNA) catalyses the peptide bond formation.
– When the ribosome falls on a termination codon (UAA/UAG/UGA), a release factor binds to the stop codon and
translation is terminated; the polypeptide is released, from the ribosome.
33. (a) The exaggerated response of the immune system to certain antigens present in the environment, is called allergy.
(b) Mast cells release chemicals like histamine and serotonin.
(c) The symptoms include:
(i) sneezing
(ii) watery eyes
(iii) running nose
(iv) difficulty in breathing
(d) Antihistamine, adrenalin, some steroids. (any two)
Or
(a) Cowdung + water, the slurry
(b) – Methanogen
– Anaerobic condition
(c) Methanogens are found in
(i) the activated sludge produced in the secondary treatment of sewage.
(ii) the rumen of cattle.
(d) Methane, Carbon dioxide, Hydrogen. ‘B’ is gas holder.
(e) The biogas is used as energy source for lighting and cooking.
 2 Practice Paper
[Time Allowed: 3 Hours] [Maximum Marks: 70]

General Instructions: Same as Practice Paper 1.

SECTION – A
1. Identify whether each of the following statements is true (T) or false (F) and select the correct option.
(A) The process of breakdown of detritus into smaller particles by the detritivores/earthworms, is called humification.
[True/False]
(B) The mass of living matter present at a trophic level of a food chain at a given time, is called standing state.
[True/False]
(C) Trees occupy the top vertical strata or layer of a forest, shrubs the second, and the grasses and herbs occupy the
bottom layers. [True/False]
(D) In an ecological pyramid, the amount of energy available at the lower trophic level is always more than that at a
higher trophic level. [True/False]
(a) A – F, B – F, C – T, D – T (b) A – T, B – T, C – F, D – T
(c) A – F, B – T, C – F, D – T (d) A – T, B – F, C – T, D – F
2. Which of the following statements regarding antibiotics is incorrect?
(a) Penicillin is the first antibiotic discovered and it was used to treat the soldiers wounded in world war II.
(b) Penicillin, the antibiotic contains the attenuated microbe and can kill many other harmful microbes.
(c) The full potential of penicillin as an antibiotic was shown by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain.
(d) A. Fleming, H. Florey and E. Chain were awarded Nobel Prize for the discovery of Penicillin in 1945.
3. The promoter site and the terminator site for transcription are located respectively at
(a) 5′ (downstream) end and 3′ (upstream) end, respectively of the transcription unit
(b) 5′ (upstream) end and 3′ (downstream) end, respectively of the transcription unit
(c) the 5′ (upstream) end of the transcription unit
(d) the 3′ (downstream) end of the transcription unit
4. What are minisatellites?
(a) 10-40 bp sized small sequences within the genes.
(b) Short coding repetitive regions on the eukaryotic genome.
(c) Short non-coding repetitive sequence forming large portion of eukaryotic genome.
(d) Regions of coding strands of the DNA.
5. The genes which code for the insecticidal proteins that are incorporated into crop plants are procured from
(a) Agrobacterium tumefaciens (b) Meloidegyne incognitia
(c) Bacillus thuringiensis (d) Thermus aquaticus
6. Which of the following is a nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium?
(a) Rhizobium (b) Azotobacter
(c) Oscillatoria (d) Azospirillum
 7. HIV is a retrovirus and has RNA as genetic material; but, in the infected human cells, it produces DNA by the enzyme
(a) DNA-dependent DNA polymerase (b) DNA-dependent RNA polymerase
(c) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (d) RNA-dependent DNA polymerase
8. In a pond ecosystem, the food chain starts with
(a) Zooplanktons (b) Small insects
(c) Phytoplanktons (d) Small fishes
9. The remnant of nucellus persistant in some seeds like A, is called B.
(a) A. Black pepper, B. Perisperm (b) A. Beet, B. Endosperm
(c) A. Castor, B. Perisperm (d) A. Black pepper, B. Endosperm
10. Which among the following has 23 chromosomes?
(a) Spermatogonia (b) Zygote
(c) Secondary oocyte (d) Oogonia
11. Select the option that correctly represents in decreasing order, the number of species in the groups of animals mentioned.
(a) Fishes → Mammals → Aves → Reptiles
(b) Mammals → Reptiles → Aves → Amphibians
(c) Fishes → Aves → Reptiles → Amphibians
(d) Mammals → Fishes → Aves → Reptiles
12. The type of antibody produced during allergic reactions, is
(a) IgA (b) IgE (c) IgG (d) IgM

Question No. 13 to 16 consist of two statements – Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Answer these questions selecting the
appropriate option given below:
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
13. Assertion (A): Lactational amenorrhea is a natural method of contraception.
Reason (R): It increases the phagocytosis of sperm.
14. Assertion (A): The Genetically modified (GM) crops contain and express one or more useful foreign gene(s).
Reason (R): Genetically modified crops are generally pest-resistant.
15. Assertion (A): India is one of the 12 mega-diversity countries of the world.
Reason (R): India has only 2.4 per cent of the land in the world, but its share of global biodiversity is 8.1 per cent.
16. Assertion (A): When the two genes in a dihybrid cross are situated on the same chromosome, the proportion of parental
gene combinations is much higher than non-parental type.
Reason (R): Higher parental gene combinations can be attributed to crossing over between two genes.

SECTION – B
17. Identify a, b, c and d in the following table with reference to birth control.

Method Example
a Diaphragm
Female sterilisation b
c Saheli
d CuT
 18. How is humus formed? Mention any three characteristics of humus.
19. Name the microbes that help in the production of the following products commercially:
(a) Statin (b) Citric acid
(c) Penicillin (d) Butyric acid.
Or
How does the transmission of each of the following diseases take place?
(a) Amoebiasis (b) Malaria
(c) Ascariasis (d) Pneumonia
20. How does ‘fitness’ of a population help in evolution?
21. Why is proinsulin so called? How is insulin different from it?

SECTION – C
22. Draw a diagram of L.S of embryo of grass and label any six parts.
23. Prior to a sports event blood and urine samples of sportspersons are collected for drug tests.
(a) Why is there a need to conduct such tests?
(b) Name the drugs the authorities usually look for.
(c) Write the generic names of two plants from which these drugs are obtained.
24. The image below depicts the result of gel electrophoresis

If the ladder represents sequence length upto 3000 base pairs (bp),
(a) Which of the bands (I - IV) correspond to 2500 bp and 100 bp respectively?
(b) Explain the basis of this kind of separation and also mention the significance of this process.

Or
Describe the roles of (a) high temperature, (b) primers and (c) bacterium, Thermus aquaticus in carrying the process of
Polymerase Chain Reaction.
25. Draw a diagram of human sperm. Label only those parts along with their functions that assist the sperm to reach and gain
entry into female gamete.
 26. A typical mammalian cell has 2.2 m long DNA molecule, whereas the nucleus in which it is packed measures about
10–6 m. Explain how such a long DNA molecule is packed within a tiny nucleus in the cell.
27. A cross between a normal couple resulted in a son who was haemophilic and a normal daughter. In course of time, when
the daughter was married to a normal man, to their surprise, the grandson was also haemophilic.
(a) Represent this cross in the form of a pedigree chart. Give the genotype of the daughter and her husband.
(b) Write the conclusion, you draw about the inheritance pattern of this disease.
28. Name the two different categories of microbes naturally occurring in sewage water. Explain their role in cleaning sewage
water into usable water.

SECTION – D
Question No. 29 and 30 are case – based questions. Each question has subparts with internal choice in one subpart.
29. Sickle cell anaemia is a Mendelian disorder; it is an autosomal recessive trait. It is controlled by a single gene with two
alleles, HbA and HbS.
The figure given below shows the red blood cells of A. a normal individual and B. an individual with sickle-cell anaemia.

A B
(a) Why do the RBCs become sickle-shaped?
(b) How is the disorder transmitted from one generation to the next?
(c) Write the sequence of amino acids in the relevant portion of
(i) HbA (normal) peptide
(ii) HbS (sickle-cell) peptide
Or
(c) How does this disorder differ from Thalassemia?
30. Each trophic level in a food chain has a certain amount of living material at a particular time, called standing crop.
Standing crop is measured as the mass of living organisms (biomass) or as number of organisms per unit area. The
biomass is expressed in terms of fresh weight or dry weight. A graphic representation of the amount of biomass in
different trophic levels of a food chain at any given time, is called pyramid of biomass.
Two pyramids of biomass are shown in the figure given below.
Answer the questions that follow:
Dry weight Dry weight
Trophic Level
(kg m–2) Trophic Level (kg m–2)
SC 70 TC 1.5
PC 20 SC 11
PC 37
PP 4
PP 809
A B
(a) Identify the type of ecosystems in which the pyramid of biomass A and B occur, respectively.
(b) Why is measurement of biomass in terms of dry weight more accurate than fresh weight?
 (c) Why is the pyramid A inverted and B upright?
Or
(c) Why is the pyramid of energy always upright?

SECTION – E
31. Explain the two complexities that are observed in the process of transcription in eukaryotes and not in prokaryotes.
Or
(a) Write the contributions of the following scientists in deciphering the genetic code.
George Gamow : Har Gobind Khorana : Marshall Nirenberg : Severo Ochoa.
(b) State the importance of a Genetic code in protein biosynthesis.
32. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
For effective treatment of a disease, early diagnosis and understanding of its pathophysiology are important. Presence
of a viral or a bacterial pathogen is normally suspected only when the disease symptoms appear. But, by that time, the
concentration of the pathogen has become very high in the body and treatment becomes difficult or even impossible.
Very low concentration of the pathogen, when it has not produced the disease symptoms, can be detected using the
molecular diagnostics.
(a) Name two modern molecular diagnostics used for early detection of viral/bacterial pathogens.
(b) (i) Expand ELISA.
(ii) Mention the principle on which it works.
(iii) What are the two ways in which infection by a pathogen can be detected using ELISA?
(c) How is a probe used to detect the mutated gene in suspected cancer patients?
Or
(a) b-galactosidase enzyme is considered a better selectable marker. Justify the statement.
(b) List the four steps to isolate DNA from a bacterium.
33. (a) P
 lan an experiment and prepare a flow chart of the steps that you would follow to ensure that the seeds are formed
only from the desired sets of pollen grains. Name the type of experiment that you carried out.
(b) Write the importance of such experiments.
Or

(a) One of the sperms is observed to penetrate ‘A’ of the ovum, as shown in the above diagram. Name ‘A’.
(b) How is the sperm able to do so?
(c) Where exactly in the fallopian tube does this occur?
(d) Explain the events thereafter up to morula stage.
 Answers
Section - A
1. (a) 2. (b) 3. (b) 4. (c) 5. (c) 6. (c)
7. (d) 8. (c) 9. (a) 10. (c) 11. (c) 12. (b)
13. (c) 14. (b) 15. (a) 16. (c)

Section - B
17. (a) Barrier method (b) Tubectomy
(c) Oral Contraceptive (d) Intra uterine device
18. Humus is formed during decomposition of detritus by the bacterial and fungal enzymes, in the process called humification.
Characteristics of humus.
(i) It is a dark-coloured amorphous substance.
(ii) It is highly resistant to microbial action and hence, undergoes decomposition at an extremely slow rate.
(iii) It is colloidal in nature and hence, serves as a reservoir of nutrients.
19. (a) Statin—Monascus purpureus
(b) Citric acid—Aspergillus niger
(c) Penicillin—Penicillium notatum
(d) Butyric acid—Clostridium butylicum
Or
(a)  Amoebiasis—Through mechanical carriers (houseflies) that contaminate food and water with the parasite from the
faeces of infected persons.
(b) Malaria—Female Anopheles mosquito is the vector.
(c) Ascariasis—Contaminated water, vegetables and fruits with the eggs of the parasite.
(d) Pneumonia—Inhaling the droplets released by an infected person and sharing of glasses and other articles with an
infected person.
20. – ‘Fitness’, according to Darwin, refers ultimately and only to reproductive fitness.
– Those who are better fit in an environment would outbreed others, who are less fit in that environment; they leave more
progeny (with more fit individuals) than others.
– They will survive better and are selected by nature (natural selection) to reproduce and increase their population size.
21. – It is the prohormone which needs to be processed before it becomes a fully mature and functional hormone/insulin.
– Proinsulin has three polypeptide chains (A, B and C), whereas insulin has only two (A and B) polypeptide chains.

Section - C
22.               Scutellum  

Coleoptile
Shoot apex

Epiblast

Radicle
Root cap
Coleorrhiza (any six)
Monocot Embryo
23. (a) Sportspersons abuse certain drugs to increase their muscle strength and bulk and aggressiveness for better perfor-
mance in sports; so, such tests are necessary.
 (b) Cocaine/coca alkaloids and cannabinoids.
(c) Cocaine is obtained from Erythroxylum coca and cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa.
24. (a)
– Band III corresponds to 2500 bp
– Band IV corresponds to 100 bp
(b) – The DNA fragments resolve (separate) according to their size through the sieving effect provided by the agarose
gel.
– Hence, the smaller fragment (IV with 100 bp) has moved farther, while the larger fragment (III with 2500 bp) has
moved very little.
– The separated desired DNA fragment can be cut out from the gel and extracted in the process, called elution; this
DNA can be used for ligating with the cloning vector or can be amplified to make many copies.
Or
(a) Role of High Temperature
– High temperature is used for denaturation, i.e., separation of the two strands to act as templates.
(b) Role of Primers
– These are the small chemically synthesised oligonucleotides, which are complementary to the regions of DNA
strand to which they are annealed.
– It is easy to add the nucleotides on to them, during the extension step.
(c) Role of Thermus aquaticus
– It is the source organism of the thermostable DNA polymerase (Taq polymerase)
– Since it can withstand the high temperature (used for denaturation), it can be used for repeated amplification of
the desired DNA segment.
25.
Acrosome

Middle
piece

Tail

A Human Spermatozoan

(i) Acrosome contains enzymes that help in dissolving egg envelopes and gain entry into the cytoplasm of the ovum
for fertilisation.
(ii) Middle piece contains a number of mitochondria and provide energy for the movement of sperm in the female
genital tract, towards the ovum.
(iii) Tail – The movement of tail is responsible for the motility of sperm towards the ovum.
26. – In the mammalian cells (or eukaryotes) there is a set of positively-charged basic proteins, called histones.
– Histones are organised to form a unit of eight molecules, called histone octamer.
– The negatively charged DNA is wrapped around the positively charged histone octamer to form a structure, called
nucleosome.
– A typical nucleosome contains 200 bp of DNA helix.
– The nucleosomes constitute the repeating units of chromatin, which appear as beads-on-string structure under an
electron microscope.
 – These are further packaged to form the chromatin fibres, which condense to form chromosomes.
– The packaging of chromatin at higher levels requires additional set of proteins called non-histone chromosomal (NHC)
proteins.
27. (a)

The genotype of the daughter is XXh and her husband is XY.

(b) – The gene for haemophilia is present on the X-chromosome, i.e. it is a sex-linked trait.
– The disorder is due to a recessive mutant allele.
– The female is an unaffected carrier and passes on the disease to some of her male offspring.
– For a female to be haemophilic, the father must be a haemophilic and mother must be haemophilic too or atleast
a carrier.
28. – Aerobic and anaerobic heterotrophs i.e., bacteria and fungi are the two types of microbes naturally occurring in sewage
water.
– The aerobic bacteria and fungi show vigorous growth to form ‘flocs’; during their growth, the microbes consume a
major part of the organic matter in the effluent and significantly reduce the BOD of the effluent.
– When the activated sludge is pumped into anaerobic sludge digesters, the water is fit to be released into a natural
waterbody.

Section - D
29. (a) T
 he mutant haemoglobin undergoes polymerisation under low oxygen tension and causes the change in the shape
of RBCs.
(b) The disease is transmitted to the offspring when both the parents are heterozygous or carriers for the disease.
(c) (i) Normal peptide
Val-His-Leu-Thr-Pro-Glu-Glu
(ii) Sickle-cell peptide
Val-His-Leu-Thr-Pro-Val-Glu
Or
(c) Thalassemia Sickle-cell anaemia
– It is a quantitative problem, where less – It is a qualitative problem, where defective
amount of haemoglobin is synthesised. haemoglobin (that is non-functional) is
synthesised.
30. (a) – Pyramid A occurs in aquatic ecosystems.
– Pyramid B occurs in terrestrial (grassland or forest) ecosystems.
(b) Measurement of biomass in terms of dry weight is more accurate because it avoids variations in weights due to
seasonal moisture differences.
(c) – Pyramid A is inverted because the biomass of consumers like fish far exceeds that of the producers (microscopic
phytoplanktons).
– Pyramid B is upright because the biomass of producers is always greater than that of consumers.
Or
 (c) Pyramid of energy is always upright because
– only 10 per cent of energy is passed on from one trophic level to the next higher trophic level.
– during the flow of energy from one trophic level to the next, some energy is always lost as heat at each step.

Section - E
31. Following are the complexities in transcription in eukaryotes, but not in prokaryotes:
(i) – In eukaryotes, there are three different DNA – dependent RNA polymerases, catalysing the formation of RNAs
as follows:
⇒ RNA polymerase I – ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
⇒ RNA polymerase II – messenger RNA (mRNA)
⇒ RNA polymerase III – transfer RNA (tRNA)
– In prokaryotes, there is a single DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, which catalyses the formation of all the three
types of RNAs, i.e. mRNA, tRNA and rRNA; though the enzyme catalyses the elongation step, it somehow
facilitates initiation and termination as well, with the help of initiation and termination factors, respectively.
(ii) – In eukaryotes, the primary transcript has to undergo the following changes, to become active:
(a) Splicing is necessary, as the RNA transcript contains both coding sequences (exons) and non coding
sequences (introns); the introns are removed and exons are joined during splicing.
(b) Capping of heterogenous nuclear RNA (hnRNA) occurs at the 5 end, where methyl guanosine triphosphate
is added to transform it into functional mRNA.
(c) In tailing of hnRNA, about 200-300 adenylate residues are added at the 3′ end of hnRNA to make it into
an active mRNA.
– The RNA formed in prokaryotes is active and does not require any processing.
Or
(a) George Gamow
– It was George Gamow, who suggested that the code must be made of three bases, in order to code for the twenty
different amino acids, with only four bases; this would generate (43) or (4 × 4 × 4) = 64 triplet codons, many more
codons than required.
Har Gobind Khorana
– Har Gobind Khorana could synthesize RNA molecules with definite combinations of bases (homopolymers and
copolymers).
Marshall Nirenberg
– Marshal Nirenberg made a cell-free system for protein synthesis, that helped in deciphering the code.
Severo Ochoa
– Ochoa discovered enzyme polynucleotide phosphorylase, that could polymerise RNA with definite sequences in
a template-independent manner.
(b) – The process of translation requires transfer of genetic information from a polymer of nucleotides to a polymer of
amino acids.
– The genetic code could direct the sequence of amino acids during protein synthesis, i.e., it shows the relationship
between the sequence of nucleotides on mRNA (in the form of codons) and the sequence of amino acids in the
polypeptide.
32. (a) (i) Polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
(ii) Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
(iii) Recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology. (any two)
(b) (i) Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
(ii) It works on the principle of antigen-antibody interaction.
(iii) Infection by a pathogen can be detected by
– the presence of antigens like proteins, glycoproteins, etc.
– the presence of antibodies synthesised against the pathogen in our body.
 (c) – A probe is a single-stranded DNA or RNA tagged with a radioactive molecule.
– The probe is allowed to hybridise to its complementary DNA in a clone of cells, followed by detection using
autoradiography.
– The clone having the mutated gene will not appear in the photographic film, because the probe will not be
complementary to the mutated DNA.
Or
(a) – When an alien DNA or recombinant DNA is ligated within the coding sequence of an enzyme, the enzyme
becomes inactivated; this phenomenon, is called insertional inactivation.
– A recombinant loses the ability to produce a (blue) colour with a chromogenic substrate; hence, it can be
distinguished from the non-recombinants, which produce blue-coloured colonies with the chromogenic substrate.
– This method is preferred to the antibiotic-resistance method as the latter is a cumbersome procedure that requires
simultaneous plating on two plates having two different antibiotics.
(b) – The bacterial cells are treated with lysozyme, to remove the cell wall.
– The proteins associated with the DNA are removed by treatment with proteases and the associated RNAs are
removed by treatment with RNases.
– Similarly other molecules (if any) are removed by appropriate treatments.
– The purified DNA is precipitated by the addition of chilled ethanol and removed by spooling.
33. (a) Selection of parents

Emasculation
(of bisexual flowers to be used as female parent).

Bagging of the emasculated flowers

Collection of pollen from the selected male parent

Dusting of the collected pollen on the stigma
of emasculated flowers

Rebagging for development of fruits
– This is called artificial hybridisation.
(b) It is one of the major approaches for crop improvement programme, as desirable characters of two plants get
combined in the hybrid plant.
Or
(a) Zona pellucida.
(b) The acrosome releases enzymes that dissolve the zona pellucida and plasma membrane of the ovum for the sperm
to enter the cytoplasm of the ovum.
(c) Ampullary–isthmic junction of fallopian tube.
(d) – The entry of the sperm into the ovum (secondary oocyte) induces the completion of meiosis II of the secondary
oocyte; it results in the formation of a larger cell, the ootid and a smaller cell, the polar body.
– The nucleus of the ootid (ovum) and that of the sperm fuse to form a diploid zygote.
– The zygote undergoes mitosis in quick succession (cleavage) as it moves through the isthmus towards the uterus
and forms 2, 4, 8 and 16 daughter cells, called blastomeres.
– The embryo with 8–16 blastomeres, is called a morula.