[Campbell Biology P.458] Referring to Figure 19.10 and the accompanying text, which statemen... | Practice Question

Referring to Figure 19.10 and the accompanying text, which statement about the depicted emerging viruses is correct?

  • A: Ebola viruses are shown undergoing cryo-electron microscopy, appearing as spherical particles.
  • B: Chikungunya viruses are depicted with a scale bar of 500 nm, indicating they are larger than Ebola viruses.
  • C: Zika virus, a mosquito-borne flavivirus, is associated with microcephaly and its image was generated using cryo-electron microscopy.
  • D: All three viruses shown, Ebola, Chikungunya, and Zika, primarily cause hemorrhagic fever.

Explanation

The text states that 'The Zika virus Figure 19.10c was first observed in Uganda... it became an emerging virus when it caused a large outbreak in Brazil... the infection of pregnant women was correlated with a striking increase in the number of babies born with abnormally small brains, a condition called microcephaly. Zika is a mosquito-borne flavivirus...' and the figure caption for 19.10c explicitly says 'Computer-generated image of a Zika virus, based on a technique called cryo-electron microscopy.' This matches option C perfectly.