Consider the following techniques/phenomena : 1. Budding and grafting in fruit plants 2. Cytoplasmic male sterility 3. Gene silencing Which of the above is/are used to create transgenic crops?

States that grafting and vegetative propagation produce plants genetically similar to the parent (clonal propagation).

A student can combine this with the fact that transgenic crops require deliberate DNA modification to infer grafting/budding alone do not create transgenics.

Explains that budding and vegetative propagation are forms of asexual reproduction producing new individuals from one parent.

Use the asexual/clonal nature to reason that these methods duplicate existing genomes rather than introduce new foreign genes as in transgenesis.

Notes practical use of grafting and budding in fruit trees to obtain earlier yields and propagation advantages.

A student could infer these techniques are horticultural/propagation tools (not genetic-modification methods) and so are unlikely to by themselves produce transgenic varieties.

Defines genetically modified (GM) crops as those whose DNA has been modified using genetic engineering techniques.

Combine this definition with the cloning/propagation clues to conclude that creating a transgenic crop requires DNA-engineering steps beyond grafting/budding.

Mentions production of 'disease-free and genetically better transplants' under protected cultivation.

A student might distinguish 'genetically better' via breeding/selection or biotech from vegetative propagation, and thus seek whether any DNA-engineering step is involved for transgenics.

Defines genetically modified organisms as plants whose hereditary material (DNA) is altered by inserting foreign genes (transgenes).

A student can use this to distinguish transgenic methods (direct DNA insertion) from breeding methods like CMS that manipulate fertility without inserting transgenes.

Describes artificial selection via human-created methods such as cross-pollination and hybridisation to develop new hybrid seeds.

A student could infer that cytoplasmic male sterility (a breeding tool to produce hybrids) fits under hybridisation/cross-pollination methods rather than transgenic modification.

Explains that pollen grains in the anther are the male gametes and that pollination carries pollen between flowers.

Knowing CMS prevents pollen production, a student can connect the biological role of pollen to how CMS facilitates hybrid seed production (without altering DNA via transgenes).

Mentions GM mustard (DMH-11) and notes concerns about cross-pollination contaminating other fields.

A student might use this to explore overlaps and distinctions between GM crops and hybrid breeding (both involve pollination concerns), helping judge whether CMS is a transgenic technique or a hybrid-breeding tool.

Gives a basic definition of genetically modified (GM) crops as plants whose DNA has been modified using genetic engineering techniques.

A student can contrast this definition with breeding-based approaches (like CMS-mediated hybrid production) to assess whether CMS constitutes creating transgenic crops.

Defines GM crops as plants whose hereditary material (DNA) is altered and states that foreign genes (transgenes) are artificially inserted into a plant's genes.

A student could reason that 'altering DNA' and inserting genes can include techniques that reduce or turn off gene expression (i.e., silencing) as one form of genetic modification and then check specific methods used in transgenics.

States GM crops are created by modifying DNA using genetic engineering and gives examples of desired traits (resistance to pests, viruses, etc.).

One can extend that genetic engineering tools used to confer such traits might include both adding genes and modifying expression levels (including silencing endogenous or viral genes) to achieve resistance.

Gives the concrete example of GM mustard containing genes from a soil bacterium conferring pest resistance (an example of introducing novel genetic elements to provide a trait).

From this example, a student could infer that different molecular strategies (adding bacterial genes or suppressing plant/virus genes) are plausible routes to create pest-resistant transgenic crops and then look up which are actually used.

Explains that genes control characteristics via the efficiency of their products (showing trait expression depends on gene activity levels).

A student could extend this to reason that modifying trait expression can be achieved not only by adding genes but also by reducing gene activity (gene silencing) and then verify whether that technique is applied in transgenic crops.