Sources of drugs – tissue culture MCQs With Answer

Sources of drugs – tissue culture MCQs With Answer

Sources of drugs obtained via tissue culture are essential for B.Pharm students exploring pharmacognosy and biopharmaceutical biotechnology. Tissue culture methods—callus culture, suspension culture, organ and hairy root culture—enable in vitro production of secondary metabolites, recombinant proteins, and rare phytochemicals. Key concepts include media formulation (e.g., MS medium), growth regulators (auxins, cytokinins), elicitation, scale-up in bioreactors, sterile techniques, metabolic engineering, and downstream processing. Understanding microbial fermentation, plant cell bioreactors, cryopreservation, and quality control links laboratory research to sustainable drug development and manufacturing. Develop practical insight into optimization, yield enhancement, and regulatory considerations. Now let’s test your knowledge with 30 MCQs on this topic.

Q1. Which tissue culture method is most suitable for mass production of uniform plant cells for secondary metabolite extraction?

• Organ culture
• Callus culture
• Suspension culture
• Protoplast culture

Correct Answer: Suspension culture

Q2. Which medium is most commonly used for plant tissue culture and production of medicinal metabolites?

• Luria-Bertani (LB) medium
• Sabouraud Dextrose Agar
• Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium
• Potato Dextrose Broth

Correct Answer: Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium

Q3. Which organism is commonly used to induce hairy root cultures for secondary metabolite production?

• Agrobacterium tumefaciens
• Agrobacterium rhizogenes
• Rhizobium radiobacter
• Pseudomonas fluorescens

Correct Answer: Agrobacterium rhizogenes

Q4. Elicitation in tissue culture primarily aims to:

• Increase cell size
• Enhance secondary metabolite synthesis
• Reduce contamination
• Promote root formation only

Correct Answer: Enhance secondary metabolite synthesis

Q5. Which growth regulator combination is typically used to induce callus formation in many plant species?

• High cytokinin, no auxin
• High auxin, low cytokinin
• Equal high auxin and cytokinin
• No growth regulators

Correct Answer: High auxin, low cytokinin

Q6. Which culture type is best suited for organ-specific metabolite production (e.g., root alkaloids)?

• Callus culture
• Suspension culture
• Organ culture
• Protoplast culture

Correct Answer: Organ culture

Q7. Which parameter is critical during scale-up of plant cell cultures in bioreactors to prevent shear damage?

• pH only
• Agitation speed
• Light intensity
• Carbon source type

Correct Answer: Agitation speed

Q8. Which technique is used to maintain long-term genetic stability of valuable plant cell lines?

• Repeated subculturing frequently
• Cryopreservation
• Exposure to mutagens
• Continuous culture without preservation

Correct Answer: Cryopreservation

Q9. Which of the following is a primary advantage of hairy root cultures for drug production?

• Fast bacterial contamination
• High genetic variability
• Stable and high-level secondary metabolite production
• Requires no sterile technique

Correct Answer: Stable and high-level secondary metabolite production

Q10. Precursor feeding in tissue culture refers to:

• Adding nutrients to prevent contamination
• Adding metabolic precursors to enhance product formation
• Feeding plantlets with soil extracts
• Feeding microbes with antibiotics

Correct Answer: Adding metabolic precursors to enhance product formation

Q11. Which factor most directly affects secondary metabolite profiles in plant cell cultures?

• Light wavelength exclusively
• Genotype and culture conditions
• Container color only
• Age of laboratory personnel

Correct Answer: Genotype and culture conditions

Q12. Somaclonal variation in tissue culture is a concern because it:

• Generates uniform clones always
• Causes genetic instability and variable metabolite production
• Prevents any metabolite synthesis
• Makes cultures more sterile

Correct Answer: Causes genetic instability and variable metabolite production

Q13. Which bioreactor type is commonly used for plant cell suspension cultures to reduce shear stress?

• Stirred-tank with high-speed impellers
• Air-lift bioreactor
• Plate culture system
• Solid-state fermenter

Correct Answer: Air-lift bioreactor

Q14. A common sterile technique to eliminate microbial contaminants from explants is:

• Autoclaving the explant
• Surface sterilization with disinfectants
• Keeping explants at room temperature for days
• Adding antibiotics to soil around explant

Correct Answer: Surface sterilization with disinfectants

Q15. Which analytical method is most appropriate for quantifying specific secondary metabolites from culture extracts?

• Thin-layer chromatography (TLC)
• High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
• Gram staining
• Colony counting

Correct Answer: High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Q16. Suspension culture yield improvement strategies include:

• Reducing nutrient supply to zero
• Optimization of medium composition and elicitation
• Removing aeration completely
• Using solid agar instead of liquid

Correct Answer: Optimization of medium composition and elicitation

Q17. In plant tissue culture, auxins primarily promote:

• Shoot differentiation
• Root initiation and callus induction
• Protein denaturation
• Microbial growth

Correct Answer: Root initiation and callus induction

Q18. Which is an example of a secondary metabolite class often produced via tissue culture?

• Proteins used for structure only
• Primary metabolites like amino acids only
• Alkaloids, flavonoids, and terpenoids
• Inorganic salts

Correct Answer: Alkaloids, flavonoids, and terpenoids

Q19. Protoplast fusion in plant biotechnology is used to:

• Combine genomes of different species to create hybrids
• Increase soil fertility
• Measure metabolite concentrations
• Sterilize explants

Correct Answer: Combine genomes of different species to create hybrids

Q20. Downstream processing after tissue culture production typically involves:

• Cell lysis, extraction, purification and formulation
• Only callus induction
• Removing growth regulators from medium only
• Direct administration of culture broth to patients

Correct Answer: Cell lysis, extraction, purification and formulation

Q21. Which statement about microbial fermentation versus plant tissue culture for drug sources is true?

• Microbial fermentation is never scalable
• Plant tissue culture always yields higher titers than microbes
• Both approaches can be complementary depending on the compound
• Only microbes can produce secondary metabolites

Correct Answer: Both approaches can be complementary depending on the compound

Q22. Hairy root cultures are particularly useful because they:

• Are genetically unstable
• Require light for growth
• Often grow fast and synthesize root-specific metabolites
• Cannot be maintained in vitro

Correct Answer: Often grow fast and synthesize root-specific metabolites

Q23. Which elicitor type is considered biotic when used to enhance metabolite production?

• Heavy metals
• Salicylic acid analogs
• Plant-derived fungal cell wall fragments
• High temperature shock

Correct Answer: Plant-derived fungal cell wall fragments

Q24. Synthetic seeds in plant biotechnology refer to:

• Artificially synthesized DNA sequences
• Encapsulated somatic embryos for storage and sowing
• Seeds produced via chemical mutagenesis
• Natural seeds treated with hormones

Correct Answer: Encapsulated somatic embryos for storage and sowing

Q25. Which is a regulatory concern specific to drugs produced from tissue culture sources?

• Ensuring batch-to-batch consistency and absence of contaminants
• No need for any quality control testing
• Only labeling requirements differ
• Regulations do not apply to tissue-culture-derived products

Correct Answer: Ensuring batch-to-batch consistency and absence of contaminants

Q26. What is the role of sterile filtration in downstream processing of culture-derived extracts?

• To increase cell density
• To remove particulate matter and microbes before final processing
• To induce metabolite synthesis
• To add growth regulators

Correct Answer: To remove particulate matter and microbes before final processing

Q27. Which factor is least likely to influence metabolite synthesis in plant cell cultures?

• Carbon source concentration
• Type of explant and genotype
• Culture pH and temperature
• Color of the researcher’s clothing

Correct Answer: Color of the researcher’s clothing

Q28. Which method helps monitor viability and growth of suspension cultures?

• Colony morphology on agar plates only
• Cell counting using a hemocytometer and viability staining
• Measuring container weight only
• Listening to culture sound

Correct Answer: Cell counting using a hemocytometer and viability staining

Q29. Transgenic plant cell cultures used for recombinant protein drugs require special attention to:

• Only the color of the medium
• Expression stability, post-translational modifications, and containment
• Growing in non-sterile conditions for authenticity
• Removing all hormones permanently

Correct Answer: Expression stability, post-translational modifications, and containment

Q30. Which downstream quality test is essential for plant-derived pharmaceutical extracts before formulation?

• Antibiogram only
• Heavy metal and residual solvent analysis, along with assay of active principle
• Counting leaf number from origin plant
• Measuring soil nutrient content

Correct Answer: Heavy metal and residual solvent analysis, along with assay of active principle

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