In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the percentage of Icelandic children whose ba

Question

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the percentage of Icelandic children whose bacterial infections were caused by bacteria resistant to penicillin rose at an alarming rate. After public health officials initiated a campaign to reduce the use of penicillin, resistance dropped off. The observation from the graph below is consistent with what hypothesis?

(a) Bacteria generate mutations so that they can evolve in order to become better adapted to their environment.

(b) The use of antibiotics generates mutations in bacteria that affects their resistance.

(c) Antibiotics really have no effect on bacterial resistance; such fluctuations are natural and occur whether we use antibiotics or not.

(d) Bacterial populations evolve in response to the selection pressure imposed by antibiotics.

(e) Antibiotics induce mutations in bacterial resistance genes.

Explanation / Answer

The hypothesis "bacterial populations evolve in response to the selection pressure imposed by antibiotics" supports the data represented in the graph above. This is because, the bacterial populations slowly gained resistance and increase in % of resistance can be observed between year 1989 to 1995. Evolution of bacteria had taken place in such a way that the bacteria having resistance genes are favored and selected to increase their progeny and allowed to conquer resistance against antibiotics. Option d is correct.

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