Questions come from the Bluebook question bank.
- For each data category, the following bars are shown:
- control plants
- plants exposed to air from whitefly-free plants and then infested
- plants exposed to air from whitefly-infested plants and then infested
- The Acid level data for the 2 categories are as follows:
- jasmonic acid:
- control plants: 140
- plants exposed to air from whitefly-free plants and then infested: 205
- plants exposed to air from whitefly-infested plants and then infested: 100
- salicylic acid:
- control plants: 120
- plants exposed to air from whitefly-free plants and then infested: 130
- plants exposed to air from whitefly-infested plants and then infested: 175
- jasmonic acid:
In tomato plants, herbivory induces defensive production of jasmonic acid, while microbial infection induces defensive production of salicylic acid; plants also emit airborne chemicals to initiate the appropriate defense in nearby tomato plants. Researchers investigated the poor resistance tomato plants show to whitefly herbivory by exposing some plants to airborne chemicals from whitefly-free plants and others to airborne chemicals from whitefly-infested plants, then infesting both groups of plants with whiteflies. The researchers concluded that whiteflies induce tomato plants to emit chemicals that cause other tomato plants to preferentially defend against microbial infection even when under herbivorous attack.
Which choice best describes data from the graph that support the researchers’ conclusion?