Answer: Triggers starch-to-sugar conversion and softening of fruit tissue.
- A Promotes ongoing vegetative growth of the fruit as widely reported
- B Stops sugar formation within the ripening fruit according to most studies
- C Triggers starch-to-sugar conversion and softening of fruit tissue
- D Halts respiration within the ripening fruit cells in the majority of documented cases
Correct answer: C. Triggers starch-to-sugar conversion and softening of fruit tissue
Explanation: Ethylene gas triggers ripening-associated changes such as conversion of starch to sugars, breakdown of cell wall components causing softening, and changes in fruit colour, making it useful for controlled ripening.
Geometric growth (where both daughter cells keep dividing) produces this classic S-shaped curve: a slow lag phase, a rapid exponential phase, and a levelling-off stationary phase as nutrients or space become limiting - the same fundamental pattern seen in population growth.
Concept context
Phases of plant growth, the five classical plant hormones plus newer ones, photoperiodism, vernalization, and seed dormancy.