Advances in cultivation and production technologies for medicinal plants MCQs With Answer

Advances in cultivation and production technologies for medicinal plants MCQs With Answer

This quiz collection focuses on modern strategies for cultivation, propagation and large‑scale production of medicinal plants relevant to M.Pharm students. Questions cover in vitro technologies (micropropagation, hair root and cell suspension cultures), bioreactor design and scale‑up, elicitation and metabolic engineering for secondary metabolite enhancement, conservation approaches (cryopreservation, synthetic seeds), precision cultivation (hydroponics, aeroponics, protected cultivation), and quality management (GACP, downstream processing). Each MCQ is designed to test conceptual understanding and practical applications used in industrial and research settings, preparing students for advanced pharmacognosy tasks and technology adoption in phytopharmaceutical production.

Q1. Which advantage of hairy root cultures (induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes) most directly contributes to enhanced secondary metabolite production compared with undifferentiated cell suspensions?

• Higher growth rates due to lack of differentiation
• Stable, high-level biosynthetic enzyme expression associated with root-specific differentiation
• Ease of scale-up in stirred-tank bioreactors without shear sensitivity
• Lower requirement for phytohormones in media due to suspension nature

Correct Answer: Stable, high-level biosynthetic enzyme expression associated with root-specific differentiation

Q2. In a temporary immersion bioreactor (TIB) used for micropropagation, which primary benefit is responsible for improved plantlet quality over continuous liquid culture?

• Permanent submersion preventing hyperhydricity
• Intermittent aeration creating hypoxic stress
• Controlled periodic immersion that balances nutrient uptake and gas exchange, reducing hyperhydricity
• Higher shear forces that improve nutrient distribution

Correct Answer: Controlled periodic immersion that balances nutrient uptake and gas exchange, reducing hyperhydricity

Q3. Which elicitor is most commonly used to upregulate triterpenoid and alkaloid pathways in plant cell cultures via jasmonate signalling?

• Salicylic acid
• Methyl jasmonate
• Chitosan oligomers
• Silver nitrate

Correct Answer: Methyl jasmonate

Q4. When designing a fed‑batch strategy for secondary metabolite production in plant cell suspension culture, which approach is most effective to prevent substrate inhibition while maintaining productivity?

• Continuous high-concentration feed from the start of culture
• Single pulse addition of large precursor amounts at inoculation
• Incremental feeding based on culture metabolic indicators (e.g., sugar consumption, DO, pH)
• Complete media replacement every 48 hours

Correct Answer: Incremental feeding based on culture metabolic indicators (e.g., sugar consumption, DO, pH)

Q5. Which molecular approach is best suited to increase flux through a specific secondary metabolite branch by reducing a competing pathway in medicinal plants?

• Overexpression of upstream precursor-supplying enzymes only
• RNA interference (RNAi) or CRISPR-mediated knockdown/knockout of competing pathway genes
• Application of broad-spectrum elicitors like chitosan
• Conventional breeding for higher biomass

Correct Answer: RNA interference (RNAi) or CRISPR-mediated knockdown/knockout of competing pathway genes

Q6. Which parameter is most critical to control to minimize somaclonal variation during long-term in vitro propagation of medicinal plants?

• High cytokinin concentration throughout subcultures
• Frequent subculture intervals with minimal callus phase and use of meristem/axillary bud proliferation
• Prolonged callus induction to ensure uniformity
• Unlimited light intensity to enhance differentiation

Correct Answer: Frequent subculture intervals with minimal callus phase and use of meristem/axillary bud proliferation

Q7. Which cryopreservation method is most appropriate for long-term storage of clonal germplasm of medicinal plants with high water content in explants?

• Conventional slow freezing without cryoprotectants
• Encapsulation-dehydration followed by liquid nitrogen storage
• Air-drying at ambient temperature
• Storage at 4°C in tissue culture medium

Correct Answer: Encapsulation-dehydration followed by liquid nitrogen storage

Q8. Which scale-up challenge is most associated with cultivating plant cell suspensions in stirred-tank bioreactors compared to microbial systems?

• Insufficient oxygen solubility at low cell densities
• Excessive shear sensitivity of plant cells and aggregates requiring gentle mixing and bubble-free aeration strategies
• Higher metabolic rates causing rapid nutrient depletion
• Inability to maintain sterile conditions

Correct Answer: Excessive shear sensitivity of plant cells and aggregates requiring gentle mixing and bubble-free aeration strategies

Q9. Which downstream processing strategy helps selectively recover intracellular alkaloids from plant cell cultures while minimizing cell debris contamination?

• Direct adsorption on activated charcoal in the culture without pretreatment
• Cell disruption followed by solvent extraction and clarification using centrifugation and filtration
• Lyophilization of whole broth and direct packing
• Ultrafiltration without cell disruption

Correct Answer: Cell disruption followed by solvent extraction and clarification using centrifugation and filtration

Q10. In precision agriculture approaches for medicinal plant cultivation, which technology most directly enables site-specific nutrient delivery and water savings?

• Broadcast fertilization
• Drip fertigation combined with soil moisture sensors and variable rate controllers
• Manual watering at fixed intervals
• Frequent foliar spraying of micronutrients

Correct Answer: Drip fertigation combined with soil moisture sensors and variable rate controllers

Q11. Which strategy is most effective to stabilize secondary metabolite production in micropropagated plants during acclimatization?

• Immediate transfer to full sunlight and field soil
• Gradual acclimatization in controlled environment chambers with progressive reduction in humidity and controlled nutrient supply
• Long-term maintenance in sterile in vitro conditions
• Frequent high-dose hormone treatments during acclimatization

Correct Answer: Gradual acclimatization in controlled environment chambers with progressive reduction in humidity and controlled nutrient supply

Q12. Which marker-assisted approach is most useful for ensuring genetic fidelity of elite medicinal plant clones produced by tissue culture?

• Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) without reproducibility controls
• High-resolution techniques such as SSRs (microsatellites) or SNP genotyping for clonal identity verification
• Visual morphological assessment only
• Measurement of total biomass as a fidelity marker

Correct Answer: High-resolution techniques such as SSRs (microsatellites) or SNP genotyping for clonal identity verification

Q13. Which production technology reduces the risk of soil-borne pathogens and allows year‑round cultivation of medicinal herbs with precise nutrient control?

• Open-field monoculture on native soil
• Soilless systems such as hydroponics or aeroponics in protected environments
• Outdoor container gardening with soil from different fields
• Broadcast sowing with organic mulches

Correct Answer: Soilless systems such as hydroponics or aeroponics in protected environments

Q14. Which process analytical technology (PAT) parameter is most informative for in-line monitoring of secondary metabolite accumulation in a plant cell bioreactor?

• Off-line dry weight measurement every week
• In-line near-infrared (NIR) or Raman spectroscopy for rapid metabolite fingerprinting
• Visual turbidity observation
• Manual sampling for HPLC only at harvest

Correct Answer: In-line near-infrared (NIR) or Raman spectroscopy for rapid metabolite fingerprinting

Q15. Which of the following best describes a synthetic seed and its principal application in medicinal plant propagation?

• Encapsulated somatic embryo or shoot bud in a protective matrix for storage and direct sowing as a clonal unit
• Traditional seed treated with fungicide
• Freeze-dried leaf tissue for storage
• Microbial inoculum embedded in alginate

Correct Answer: Encapsulated somatic embryo or shoot bud in a protective matrix for storage and direct sowing as a clonal unit

Q16. Which elicitation strategy targets increased production of phenolic antioxidants in cell cultures by mimicking biotic stress?

• Continuous addition of sugar-rich medium
• Application of chitosan or yeast extract as biotic elicitors
• Reducing light intensity to zero
• Maintaining cultures at suboptimal pH without elicitor

Correct Answer: Application of chitosan or yeast extract as biotic elicitors

Q17. During metabolic engineering to enhance paclitaxel biosynthesis, which combined approach most increases pathway yield in a production cell line?

• Overexpressing the final enzyme only without precursor supply improvement
• Co-overexpression of rate-limiting pathway enzymes, enhancement of precursor supply and suppression of competing pathways
• Switching to a different plant species without pathway genes
• Maintaining cells in low-nutrient medium to stress them

Correct Answer: Co-overexpression of rate-limiting pathway enzymes, enhancement of precursor supply and suppression of competing pathways

Q18. Which preservation strategy is most appropriate for maintaining true-to-type field collections of medicinal plant germplasm while minimizing land use?

• Maintaining large ex situ field collections only
• In vitro slow-growth storage combined with cryopreservation for backups
• Random seed banking without viability testing for vegetatively propagated species
• Frequent transfer of plants between growers

Correct Answer: In vitro slow-growth storage combined with cryopreservation for backups

Q19. Which quality guideline specifically addresses agricultural and collection practices to ensure medicinal plant raw material quality and traceability?

• ICH Q7 Good Manufacturing Practice for APIs
• WHO Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) for medicinal plants
• EU GMP Annex 1 for sterile products
• Codex Alimentarius for food safety only

Correct Answer: WHO Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) for medicinal plants

Q20. Which advanced technique can be used to non-destructively map spatial distribution of key secondary metabolites within intact plant tissues to guide harvest timing and selection?

• Conventional solvent extraction followed by bulk HPLC only
• Mass spectrometry imaging (e.g., MALDI imaging) combined with histology
• Counting trichome density under a stereomicroscope only
• Visual color assessment of leaves

Correct Answer: Mass spectrometry imaging (e.g., MALDI imaging) combined with histology

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