104. Which set correctly lists the five kingdoms in Whittaker’s classification?
[MPSC Subordinate Services Prelims 2020, held 04 September 2021]
(A) Protista, Fungi, Mammalia, Annelida, Plantae
(B) Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia
(C) Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Porifera, Animalia
(D) Monera, Fungi, Mammalia, Plantae, Animalia
Answer: (B) Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia
Explanation: Robert Whittaker recognised Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia as the five kingdoms. Mammalia and Annelida represent subdivisions of animals rather than separate kingdoms. This system highlighted fundamental differences in cell organisation and nutrition.
103. Which term describes fusion of cytoplasm between two fungal gametes or cells?
[NEET UG, 2021]
(A) Karyogamy
(B) Plasmogamy
(C) Saprophytism
(D) Heterocyst formation
Answer: (B) Plasmogamy
Explanation: Plasmogamy is fusion of cytoplasmic material during fungal sexual reproduction. Karyogamy denotes nuclear fusion, which may occur considerably later. Some fungi therefore retain a dikaryotic stage with two genetically distinct nuclei.
102. Which group is not included under the kingdom Animalia in the five-kingdom scheme?
[RRB NTPC, 30 December 2020]
(A) Metazoa
(B) Protozoa
(C) Choanozoa
(D) Bilateria
Answer: (B) Protozoa
Explanation: Protozoans such as Amoeba and Paramecium are placed in Protista under Whittaker’s traditional framework. Metazoa comprises multicellular animals, whereas modern classifications may treat choanoflagellate relatives separately; this exam follows the textbook five-kingdom approach.
101. Which description correctly applies to viroids?
[NEET UG, 2020]
(A) RNA enclosed in a protein capsid
(B) Free infectious RNA lacking a protein coat
(C) Protein-coated DNA
(D) Free infectious DNA
Answer: (B) Free infectious RNA lacking a protein coat
Explanation: Viroids consist of small circular infectious RNA molecules without any protein capsid. They differ from viruses in structure and size. T. O. Diener discovered them while investigating potato spindle tuber disease.
100. Metameric segmentation occurs in which pair of animal phyla?
[RPSC Senior Teacher Science, 04 July 2019]
(A) Annelida and Arthropoda
(B) Echinodermata and Arthropoda
(C) Annelida and Chordata
(D) Platyhelminthes and Arthropoda
Answer: (A) Annelida and Arthropoda
Explanation: Metamerism refers to serial repetition of body segments. It is especially clear in annelids and many arthropods, although arthropod segments may fuse into functional regions. This repeated architecture helps identify their organisation.
99. Who proposed the five-kingdom classification of organisms?
[SSC Stenographer, 07 February 2019]
(A) R. H. Whittaker
(B) A. Williamson
(C) A. Fleming
(D) L. Lawrence
Answer: (A) R. H. Whittaker
Explanation: Robert Whittaker proposed the five-kingdom scheme in 1969, distinguishing Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. The framework uses cellular structure, level of organisation, mode of nutrition and reproductive and evolutionary features.
98. Which scientist introduced the five-kingdom classification system?
[SSC CPO, 12 March 2019]
(A) William Paley
(B) Charles Darwin
(C) Carl Woese
(D) Robert Whittaker
Answer: (D) Robert Whittaker
Explanation: Whittaker’s five-kingdom model recognised fungi as a distinct kingdom rather than grouping them with green plants. Carl Woese later proposed the three-domain system using molecular evidence, a different classification scheme.
97. Who is called the father of modern taxonomy?
[MP Pre-Nursing Selection Test, 07 July 2019]
(A) Carolus Linnaeus
(B) Hugh Strickland
(C) Thomas Huxley
(D) Charles Darwin
Answer: (A) Carolus Linnaeus
Explanation: Linnaeus systematised hierarchical classification and standardised two-word species names. His publications helped establish modern taxonomic conventions, although molecular phylogenetics has subsequently refined many relationships among organisms.
96. Which factors are considered in Whittaker’s five-kingdom classification?
[RPSC Senior Teacher Science, 18 February 2019]
(A) Only cell type and tissue level
(B) Only nutrition and reproduction
(C) Cell structure, organisation, reproduction and nutrition
(D) Only cell structure and nutrition
Answer: (C) Cell structure, organisation, reproduction and nutrition
Explanation: Whittaker considered cell structure, body organisation, nutrition, reproduction and inferred phylogenetic relationships. Applying multiple criteria allowed fungi to be separated from plants and prokaryotes from unicellular eukaryotes.
95. Which statement is false about infectious agents?
[NEET UG, 2019]
(A) Viroids have no protein shell
(B) Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites
(C) The viral protein coat alone is the infectious genetic material
(D) Prions consist of misfolded proteins
Answer: (C) The viral protein coat alone is the infectious genetic material
Explanation: Viral genetic information resides in DNA or RNA, not in its protective capsid. Prions are infectious proteins, while viroids are infectious RNA without a coat. These differences separate the three classes of acellular agents.
