Neco Model Questions Vol1 2020 Biology Question 2

Practice practical question 2 from the 2020 Neco Model Questions Vol1 Biology examination. This question covers Cell Division .

Neco Model Questions Vol1 2020 Biology Practical
Topic: Cell Division
Question 2 NECO_MODEL_QUESTIONS_VOL1 • 2020 • BIOLOGY • practical

A group of students set up an experiment to determine the effect of colchicine on the mitotic index of onion root tip cells. Fresh onion bulbs were placed in two sets of beakers: (i) control (distilled water) and (ii) treatment (0.1 % colchicine solution). After 24 h, root tips of 1 cm length were harvested, fixed in Carnoy’s fixative, and prepared as squashes stained with aceto‑orcein. For each slide, 500 cells were counted and the number of cells in each phase of mitosis recorded as follows: Control: prophase 120, metaphase 80, anaphase 50, telophase 30. Colchicine: prophase 30, metaphase 300, anaphase 10, telophase 10. Answer the following.

Question Parts

( a )
Calculate the mitotic index for the control and colchicine‑treated samples.
( b )
Determine the percentage of cells in metaphase for each sample and comment on the effect of colchicine.
( c )
Identify two sources of error that could affect the reliability of the mitotic index obtained.
( d )
Propose one improvement to the experimental procedure to reduce one of the errors identified in (c).

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About This Question

This is Neco Model Questions Vol1 2020 Biology Question 2. It is one of the practical questions from the 2020 Neco Model Questions Vol1 Biology examination.

The question covers Cell Division .

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