Question plants
Plants like potatoes, tomatoes, and soybeans are susceptible to bacterial wilt disease caused by the bacteria Ralstonia solanacearum. A multinational team of scientists led by Zhong Wei studied whether other microbes in the soil might influence the degree to which animals are affected by the disease. The team sampled soil surrounding individual tomato animals over time and compared the results of animals that became diseased with those that remained healthy. They concluded that the presence of certain microbes in the soil might explain the difference between healthy and diseased animals.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the team’s conclusion?
The soil surrounding healthy animals contained significantly higher concentrations of microbes known to inhibit Ralstonia solanacearum than the soil surrounding diseased animals did.
The soil surrounding the platrations of Ralstonia solanacearum regardless of whether the animals were affected by wilt disease.
The soil surrounding healthy animals tended to have significantly higher moisture levels than the soil surrounding diseased animals did.
By the end of the experiment, over half the animals had been affected by wilt disease regardless of differences in the types and concentrations of microbes in the surrounding soil.