Question

Which of the following cannot be grown on an artificial culture medium?
A. Escherichia coli
B. TMV
C. Aspergillus
D. Yeast

Answer 1

Hint: An artificial culture medium is a liquid or gel growth medium designed for the growth of different types of microorganisms. Depending upon the microorganism, the growth medium is selected suitable for their growth. Only bacteria and fungi can be grown artificially.

Complete answer: The artificial culture medium also known as the growth medium is an environment used for the growth of different types of microorganisms. The culture medium contains agarose and nutrients required for the growth of the microorganism. This medium is first sterilized so that there is no contamination in it, i.e. there is no growth of unwanted microbes and contains only the microbes of interest. Bacteria, yeast, protozoans, fungi, and algae are grown in the medium. A specialized culture medium containing the extract of plant and animal tissues is used for the growth of viruses. Viruses are nonliving organisms that get active when they are in contact with the host cell. No virus can be grown on an artificial culture medium as there is no living cell present. In the given options, Escherichia coli is a bacterium, Aspergillus is a fungus and yeast can be grown on the culture medium, whereas TMV, i.e. Tobacco mosaic virus cannot be grown in the culture medium.
Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Note: TMV is a plant virus (i.e. cause disease only in plant cells) and does not affect mammalian cells. This is the reason, TMV is studied broadly and used as a vector in drug delivery mechanisms in mammals. It is biodegradable and can be easily removed out of the non-targeted cells. TMV-based vectors are also used in the expression of a foreign protein in plants.