BIO 122 General Biology Exam Questions and Answers: Complete Study Guide with 87 Practice Questions

Complete BIO 122 General Biology study guide with 87 exam questions and answers covering bryophytes, fungi, arthropods, algae, and microbiology for students.

UNIUYO BIO 122 General Biology Exam Questions & Answers

Preparing for your General Biology exam can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re dealing with multiple topics spanning botany, zoology, and microbiology.

This revision guide brings together 87 essential BIO 122 questions with detailed answers to help you master the core concepts and ace your university examinations.

Whether you are reviewing plant biology, studying arthropod classification, or memorizing fungal reproduction methods, this resource covers everything you need to know for BIO 122 General Biology.

Overview of the BIO 122 Curriculum

BIO 122 typically covers fundamental biological principles across several major areas. Students encounter plant biology (bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms), animal biology (arthropods, molluscs, amphibians), mycology (fungi), phycology (algae), and microbiology (bacteria and archaea).

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The course emphasizes understanding life cycles, classification systems, reproductive strategies, and ecological relationships. Mastering these topics requires both memorization of key terms and comprehension of underlying biological processes.

This study guide organizes questions by topic area, making it easier to focus your revision efforts where you need them most.

SECTION A: Plant Biology – Bryophytes and Pteridophytes

1. Who classified plants into 2 major divisions?
   Answer: August Wilhelm Eichler
2. Spores arise from what type of cell division?  Answer: Meiosis
3. Pteridophytes and Bryophytes undergo alternation of generation (True/False) Answer: True
4. What is the dominant plant body in Bryophytes? Answer: Gametophyte
5. What serves mainly as anchorage in Bryophytes? Answer: Rhizoids
6. The gametophyte is dependent nutritionally on the sporophyte of Bryophytes (True/False) Answer: False
7. The leaves of Pteridophytes are referred to as what? Answer: Fronds
8. What sustains the male reproductive organ in Bryophytes? Answer: Antheridosphere, Antheridia
9. The first structure produced from the capsule of a moss plant is known as what?Answer: Protonema
10. Mention 1 ecological importance of Bryophytes. Answer: They help to control soil erosion and act as water reservoirs
11. The sporophyte of Bryophytes is divided into what three parts? Answer: Foot, seta and capsule
12. Pteridophyte stems are subterranean and are referred to as what? Answer: Rhizomes
13. What is the asexual reproductive organ in Bryophytes? Answer: Gemmae
14. What is referred to as vascular cryptograms? Answer: Pteridophytes
15. The spots located on the fronds are called what? Answer: Sori
16. The dominant plant body in Pteridophytes is known as what? Answer: Sporophytes
17. Mention the classes of Bryophytes. Answer: Class Hepaticae, Class Anthocerotae, Class Musci
18. Fertile leaves in Pteridophytes are known as what? Answer: Sporophylls
19. What consist of tissue spaces through which blood circulates? Answer: Haemocoel
20. Mention the classes of Pteridophytes. Answer: Class Psilotopsida, Lycopsida, Sphenopsida, Pteropsida
21. What is referred to as True Ferns? Answer: Class Pteropsida
22. The young fronds of Pteridophytes have what characteristic? Answer: Fiddle head/Circinate venation
23. What needs moist/damp soils to complete their life cycle? Answer: Bryophytes

SECTION B: Zoology – Arthropods and Molluscs

Question 24: The external body of Arthropods is covered by what?
Answer: Integument

Question 25: Osmoregulation in Arthropods occurs by means of what?
Answer: Malpighian tubules

Question 26: Osmoregulation in Molluscs occur by means of what?
Answer: Metanephridia

Question 27: The phylum Arthropoda is divided into how many subphylum?
Answer: Five

Question 28: The main body cavity of Arthropods is known as what?
Answer: Haemocoel

Question 29: Arthropods range in size from what to as large as what?
Answer: 0.1mm to 1m

Question 30: The only subphylum of Arthropods that can fly is known as what?
Answer: Subphylum Insecta

Question 31: The fleshy living parts of Molluscs can be divided into what two parts?
Answer: Foot and visceral mass

Question 32: What organ in molluscs performs many of the functions of the coelom in other animals?
Answer: The mantle cavity

Question 33: What is a rasping organ used in scraping of food particles and algae?
Answer: Radula

Question 34: What structure protects molluscs from desiccation and predators?
Answer: Shell

SECTION C: Mycology – Fungi

Question 35: Fungi is also known as what?
Answer: Mycota

Question 36: Fungi are prokaryotes (True/False)
Answer: False

Question 37: Fungi is derived from a Latin word known as what?
Answer: Fungus (Funjour)

Question 38: Mycology is derived from a Greek word known as what?
Answer: Mykes

Question 39: What is the botanical name for Yeast?
Answer: Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Question 40: The carbohydrate food is stored in the form of what in fungi?
Answer: Glycogen

Question 41: The study of fungi is known as what?
Answer: Mycology

Question 42: The structure that is equivalent to seeds of flowering plants in pteridophytes is called what?
Answer: Spores

Question 43: Thallus in fungi is differentiated into root, stems and leaves (True/False)
Answer: False

Question 44: The fungi without cross wall is called what?
Answer: Coenocytic Fungi

Question 45: The obligate parasite possesses specialized penetration and absorption organ called what?
Answer: Haustoria

Question 46: Deuteromycotina is also known as what?
Answer: Fungi Imperfecti

Question 47: What is referred to as Slime moulds?
Answer: Myxomycota

Question 48: In Mucor and Rhizopus, sexual reproduction occurs via what?
Answer: Conjugation

Question 49: What is referred to as true fungi?
Answer: Eumycota

Question 50: Fungi is divided into 2 main divisions namely what?
Answer: Myxomycota and Eumycota

Question 51: In ascomycetes, the male reproductive organ is what and the female reproductive organ is what?
Answer: Antheridia (male), Ascogonium (female)

Question 52: The botanical name for mushroom is what?
Answer: Agaricus bisporus

Question 53: Penicillin was extracted from a fungi called what by whom in what year?
Answer: Penicillium chrysogenum, Alexander Fleming, 1929

Question 54: Griseofulvin was extracted from what for the treatment of ringworm and athlete’s foot?
Answer: Penicillium griseofulvum

Question 55: What causes candidiasis/vulvovaginitis?
Answer: Candida albicans

Question 56: Eczema is known as what?
Answer: Atopic dermatitis

SECTION D: Gymnosperms

Question 57: The dominant part of gymnosperms is what?
Answer: Sporophytes

Question 58: Gymnosperms produce cone-like structure called what?
Answer: Strobilus

Question 59: The male gametophyte of gymnosperms is known as what?
Answer: Pollen grain

Question 60: The female gametophyte of gymnosperms is known as what?
Answer: Embryo sac

Question 61: Gymnosperms undergo double fertilization (True/False)
Answer: False

Question 62: Embryo sac consists of how many cells and how many nuclei?
Answer: 7 cells and 8 nuclei

SECTION E: Phycology – Algae

Question 63: Sea weed is also known as what?
Answer: Alga

Question 64: Algae reproduces sexually by producing gametes borne on a special reproductive organ called what?
Answer: Gametangia

Question 65: Who classified algae in his book?
Answer: Fritsch

Question 66: What is the food reserve material of Division Chlorophyta?
Answer: Starch

Question 67: What is the food reserve of the Division Euglenophyta?
Answer: Polysaccharide and paramylon

Question 68: What is the food reserve of the Division Phaeophyta?
Answer: Laminarin and Fats

Question 69: What is the food reserve of the Division Cyanophyta?
Answer: Glycogen

Question 70: What is the food reserve of the Division Rhodophyta?
Answer: Floridean starch

Question 71: What is the food reserve of the Division Xanthophyta?
Answer: Fatty acid and Glycerol

Question 72: What is the food reserve of the Division Bacillariophyta?
Answer: Oil and volutin

SECTION F: Microbiology – Bacteria and Archaea

Question 73: What is a gelatinous sheet outside the cell wall of bacteria that protects it from desiccation?
Answer: Capsule

Question 74: Bacteria found in salty environments are what?
Answer: Halophiles

Question 75: The cell wall of archaea is made up of what?
Answer: Pseudopeptidoglycan

Question 76: Archaea makes use of what as initiator tRNA during protein synthesis?
Answer: Methionine tRNA

Question 77: Bacteria makes use of what during protein synthesis?
Answer: Formylmethionine tRNA

Question 78: Bacteria that reduce CO2 to methane is known as what?
Answer: Methanogens

Question 79: What is used for the production of bio insecticide?
Answer: Bacillus thuringiensis

SECTION G: Additional Topics

Question 80: Pollination in Gymnosperms is mainly by what?
Answer: Wind

Question 81: Fertilization in Amphibians is what type?
Answer: External

Question 82: Mention 3 extant orders of amphibians and a species each.
Answer: Order Anura – Agalychnis callidryas, Order Caudata – Ambystoma tigrium, Order Apoda – Caecilians

Question 83: Annelids move by means of what?
Answer: Parapodia

Question 84: Sexual reproduction in Cnidaria produces a ciliated larva known as what?
Answer: Planula

Question 85: Classification of platyhelminthes is based on the larva (True/False)
Answer: True

Question 86: Amniotic egg consists of how many membranes?
Answer: 4

Question 87: Mention 2 characteristics of protozoans.
Answer: They occur in moist environments, they are bound by cell membrane

Frequently Asked Questions About BIO 122 General Biology

1. What is the difference between Bryophytes and Pteridophytes?
Bryophytes are non-vascular plants where the gametophyte is the dominant generation, while Pteridophytes are vascular plants with the sporophyte as the dominant generation.

2. Why are Pteridophytes called vascular cryptograms?
They possess vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) but reproduce through spores rather than seeds, hence their reproduction remains “hidden.”

3. What is alternation of generation?
It’s a life cycle alternating between a haploid gametophyte stage and a diploid sporophyte stage, common in plants.

4. What are the main functions of rhizoids in Bryophytes?
Rhizoids serve primarily as anchorage structures and assist in water absorption.

5. What is the significance of haemocoel in Arthropods?
The haemocoel is the main body cavity where hemolymph circulates, performing both circulatory and hydrostatic functions.

6. How do Arthropods regulate water and salt balance?
Through Malpighian tubules, which remove metabolic wastes and regulate water balance.

7. What distinguishes Myxomycota from Eumycota?
Myxomycota are slime molds (rudimentary fungus-like organisms), while Eumycota represents true fungi with chitin cell walls.

8. Why are fungi considered heterotrophic organisms?
Fungi cannot photosynthesize and must obtain nutrients from organic sources, making them heterotrophs.

9. What is the importance of the radula in Molluscs?
The radula is a rasping feeding organ that scrapes algae and food particles from surfaces.

10. How does the mantle cavity function in Molluscs?
It houses gills for respiration, contains excretory and reproductive openings, and performs coelom-like functions.

11. What is the role of sori in Pteridophytes?
Sori are sporangia clusters on frond undersides that produce and release spores for reproduction.

12. Why don’t gymnosperms undergo double fertilization?
Gymnosperms have a simpler fertilization process where only one sperm fertilizes the egg, unlike angiosperms.

13. What are the food storage forms in different algae divisions?
Chlorophyta stores starch, Phaeophyta stores laminarin, Rhodophyta stores floridean starch, and Cyanophyta stores glycogen.

14. What distinguishes Archaea from Bacteria?
Archaea have pseudopeptidoglycan cell walls and use methionine tRNA, while Bacteria have peptidoglycan walls and use formylmethionine tRNA.

15. What is the significance of Alexander Fleming’s penicillin discovery?
Fleming’s 1929 discovery of penicillin from Penicillium chrysogenum revolutionized medicine as the first widely used antibiotic.

16. What are sporophylls in Pteridophytes?
Modified fertile leaves bearing sporangia that produce spores.

17. Why do Bryophytes need moist environments?
They require moisture for sperm to swim to eggs during sexual reproduction, lacking vascular tissue for internal water transport.

18. What is circinate vernation?
The coiled, spiral arrangement of young fern fronds (fiddle heads) that unfurl during maturation.

19. What are methanogens and where are they found?
Archaea that reduce CO2 to methane, found in anaerobic environments like wetlands, digestive tracts, and deep-sea vents.

20. What is the ecological importance of Arthropods?
They perform crucial roles in pollination, decomposition, food chains, pest control, and serve as environmental health indicators.

Study Tips for UNIUYO BIO 122 Success

Mastering General Biology requires more than memorizing facts. Create concept maps linking related topics, such as how different plant groups reproduce or how various organisms regulate water balance. Use flashcards for terminology but also practice explaining concepts in your own words.

Focus on understanding patterns across groups. Notice how vascular plants differ from non-vascular ones, or how reproduction strategies vary between fungi divisions. These patterns help you remember individual facts more easily.

Practice drawing life cycles and labeled diagrams. Many BIO 122 exams include diagram questions about plant reproduction cycles or animal anatomy. Drawing these repeatedly builds visual memory.

Form study groups to quiz each other. Teaching concepts to peers reinforces your understanding and reveals knowledge gaps. Explaining why answers are correct matters as much as knowing the answers themselves.

Additional Resources for General Biology Students

For deeper understanding of biological concepts, the Khan Academy Biology section offers excellent video tutorials and practice exercises covering many BIO 122 topics.

The Biology LibreTexts provides comprehensive, peer-reviewed educational content on botany, zoology, and microbiology that complements your course material.

Conclusion

This comprehensive question bank covers the essential topics tested in BIO 122 General Biology examinations. Review each section systematically, paying special attention to areas where you feel less confident. Remember that understanding biological relationships and processes matters more than rote memorization.

Use these questions as active practice rather than passive reading. Cover the answers and test yourself regularly. Identify patterns in question types and focus your revision on high-yield topics like classification systems, life cycles, and comparative anatomy.

Course Level: 100 University Undergraduate, Uniuyo
Topics Covered: Botany, Zoology, Mycology, Phycology, Microbiology