What is the chemical that the medicinal plant Rauwolfia vomitoria produces, and the type of biodiversity it represents?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Reserpine, Genetic diversity
Biodiversity is studied at three levels. Genetic diversity is variation within one species. Species diversity is the variety of species in a region. Ecological diversity is the variety of ecosystems. The medicinal plant Rauwolfia vomitoria is a single species, but plants growing in different Himalayan ranges differ in the strength and amount of the chemical they make.
Option (1) Reserpine, Species diversity — Incorrect. Reserpine is the right chemical, but species diversity means the number of species in a region, such as the amphibians of the Western Ghats. Variation inside one species is not species diversity.
Option (2) Vomitarin, Species diversity — Incorrect. There is no such chemical as vomitarin in the book, and species diversity is also the wrong level.
Option (3) Reserpine, Genetic diversity — Correct. The plant makes reserpine, and its variation from one Himalayan range to another is variation within one species, which is genetic diversity.
Option (4) Vomitarin, Genetic diversity — Incorrect. Genetic diversity is right, but there is no such chemical as vomitarin; the chemical is reserpine.
NCERT Extract:
Biodiversity – “… (i) Genetic diversity: A single species might show high diversity at the genetic level over its distributional range. The genetic variation shown by the medicinal plant Rauwolfia vomitoria growing in different Himalayan ranges might be in terms of the potency and concentration of the active chemical (reserpine) that the plant produces. India has more than 50,000 genetically different strains of rice, and 1,000 varieties of mango. (ii) Species diversity: The diversity at the species level, for example, the Western Ghats have a greater amphibian species diversity than the Eastern Ghats.”