- A Mainly specialized meristematic cells located at the shoot apex are capable of exhibiting genuine totipotency in plants under usual circumstances
- B Every living plant cell has the genetic information to develop into a whole organism, as demonstrated by F.C. Steward with carrot phloem cells
- C Totipotency is restricted mainly to undifferentiated embryonic cells and is rarely artificially induced in mature tissue according to most researchers
- D Totipotency generally requires both auxin and cytokinin to be present in roughly balanced concentrations over time in the majority of cases studied
Correct answer: B. Every living plant cell has the genetic information to develop into a whole organism, as demonstrated by F.C. Steward with carrot phloem cells
Explanation: Totipotency is the inherent capacity of every living plant cell to develop into a complete organism, as all somatic cells contain the full genome. F.C. Steward demonstrated this with carrot phloem (non-meristematic) cells, proving it is not restricted to meristematic cells.
Concept context
Learn about animal husbandry, plant breeding, tissue culture, biofortification, and single cell protein.
Read the full Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production notes →