Question

in a 2024 study, caihong vanderburgh and colleagues examined whether the composition of soil microbial communities could affect plants flavor chemistry. whereas jimenez - gomez et al. (2017) showed that adding specific bacterial or fungal strains to soil can yield increased vitamin c in strawberry crops, vanderburgh and team applied intact microbial communities gathered from ecologically distinct settings across colorado, including areas of aspen grove and sagebrush, to mustard plants and evaluated the flavor compounds in the plants seeds. this ensured that the microbial conditions in their experiment would better reflect the variation and complexity of naturally occurring communities.
based on the text, what is the most likely reason vanderburgh and colleagues chose to avoid the method used in the strawberry study?
a. the microbial community in the soil from the strawberry study affected plants nutrition, not their flavor chemistry.
b. the diversity of species of microorganisms in the soil from the strawberry study was already abnormally high before the researchers added further microorganisms.
c. the composition of microorganisms in the soil in the strawberry study may not have been representative of a naturally existing composition.
d. the microbial community in the soil from the strawberry study likely included similar species to those in wild soils.

Explanation:

The text discusses a study on soil microbial communities and their impact on strawberry crops. Option C is correct because if the composition of microorganisms in the strawberry soil study may not have been representative of a naturally existing community, it would affect the validity of the study. This is a key consideration in research design to ensure results reflect real - world conditions.

Answer:

C. The composition of microorganisms in the soil in the strawberry study may not have been representative of a naturally existing composition.