Question

Statement I: Plants can tolerate drought either by mitigating the actual stress or by showing a high degree of tolerance to stress.
Statement II: Plants tolerate the stress by showing resistance to dehydration and by preventing leaf collapse, permit the plants to maintain a high internal water potential in spite of drought conditions.
In light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:

• A. Both Statement I and Statement II are true
• B. Both Statement I and Statement II are false
• C. Statement I is true but Statement II is false
• D. Statement I is false but Statement II is true

Hint:

Drought tolerance mechanisms:
Avoidance, tolerance, escape.
During drought, water potential decreases.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Plants have different mechanisms to tolerate drought.
These include stress avoidance and stress tolerance.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
No specific formula.
Need to understand drought tolerance mechanisms.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Statement I: Plants tolerate drought either by mitigating stress or showing tolerance.
This is true.
Statement II: Plants tolerate stress by showing resistance to dehydration and preventing leaf collapse.
This leads to maintaining high internal water potential.
However, plants maintain low water potential during drought, not high.
Thus, Statement II is false.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Statement I is true but Statement II is false.
Hence, the correct option is (C).