High School

True or False? A bacterial strain that is pro+ thi+ leu− met− will grow on minimal media plus leucine and thiamine.

Answer :

Final answer:

The bacterial strain in the question would not be able to grow on minimal media supplemented with leucine and thiamine due to its inability to synthesize methionine (met -), which is one of the nutritional requirements not met by the media. Therefore, the statement is false.

Explanation:

The question is asking whether a bacterial strain with the genotype pro + thi + leu − met − can grow on minimal media plus leucine and thiamine. In bacterial physiology, the + and - symbols represent the ability and inability to synthesize a particular substance, respectively. Thus, this bacterial strain is able to synthesize proline (pro +) and thiamine (thi +) but not leucine (leu -) and methionine (met -).

Given this information, the bacteria would be able to grow on minimal media supplemented with leucine and thiamine since leucine is one of the substances it cannot synthesize and so must obtain from its environment. Conversely, the bacteria would not require external sources of proline and thiamine as per its genotype pro+ and thi+ which imply ability to synthesize these substances.

However, the actual growth of the bacteria may be hampered because there is no methionine (represented by met - in the genotype) supplied on the media which it may need to obtain from the environment. Hence, the statement is False. The bacterial strain will not be able to grow as there is a failure to provide all the nutrients it cannot synthesize by itself.

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