FORESTRY
GENETICS TREE IMPROVEMENT
Question
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The potato famine in Ireland (1845-1852) occured when a fungus (P. infestans) escaped by chance out of Mexico and into North America and Europe. The fungus, which caused crop-destroying potato blight, apparently came from a single clonal genotype. The potato population was probably vulnerable to infection by this fungus because of which of the following?
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lack of genetic drift
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not enough organisms
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lack of genetic variation
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balanced polymorphisms
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Explanation:
Detailed explanation-1: -It decimated Ireland’s population, which stood at about 8.5 million on the eve of the Famine. It is estimated that the Famine caused about 1 million deaths between 1845 and 1851 either from starvation or hunger-related disease. A further 1 million Irish people emigrated.
Detailed explanation-2: -Scientists have long known that it was a strain of Phytophthora infestans (or P. infestans) that caused the widespread devastation of potato crops in Ireland and northern Europe beginning in 1845, leading to the Irish Potato Famine.
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