ICAR AIEEA PG Plant Science 14 July 2023 Shift-1 Paper

Definitions in multiple cropping systems:

• Intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field in distinct spatial arrangements.
• Row intercropping specifically refers to growing two or more crops simultaneously where at least one crop is planted in distinct alternate rows (e.g., maize + soybean, sorghum + pigeonpea in $2:1$ or $4:2$ ratios).
• Crop rotation refers to sequential temporal ordering over successive seasons.

Structure and function of bacterial mesosomes:

• Mesosomes are convoluted invaginations of the prokaryotic plasma membrane that function in chromosome attachment, DNA replication, cross-wall/septum formation during binary fission, and cellular respiration: Statement (I) is true.
• Extensive folding and invagination significantly INCREASES (not reduces) the total membrane surface area available for respiratory electron transport and enzymatic activity: Statement (II) is false.

Reproduction biology in yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae):

• Yeasts undergo both asexual and sexual reproduction. Under nutrient starvation (sporulation conditions), diploid ($2n$) yeast cells undergo meiosis to produce four haploid ($n$) sexual ascospores enclosed within an ascus: Statement (I) is false.
• Both stable haploid ($a$ or $\alpha$) and diploid ($a/\alpha$) cells proliferate vegetatively through asymmetric mitotic cell division termed budding: Statement (II) is true.